MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. No scenario of expelling Russia from the United Nations will ever be possible, because the UN Security Council will be unable to issue such a recommendation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday.
"No scenario of stripping Russia of its UN membership is possible by definition. Article 6 of the UN Charter does envisage the possibility of expelling a country from the UN on the basis of the General Assembly’s decision following a recommendation from the UN Security Council. But the Security Council is unlikely to ever give such a recommendation, because the approval of the corresponding resolution requires not only support from nine members, but also consent by the five permanent members possessing the veto right. Russia is a member of this quintet," Zakharova said.
She stressed that even amid the soaring anti-Russian propaganda in the West, the idea of expelling Russia from the United Nations "remains a fringe one." Zakharova recalled that the Ukrainian side had begun to indulge in such insinuations much earlier than February.
"Washington and its minions following in its footsteps, which have supported the introduction of sanctions against our country, do not constitute even a simple majority in the UN General Assembly, let alone a qualified two-thirds majority. All other members of the world community have confirmed the readiness to have constructive and mutually beneficial relations with our country in defiance of pressure and crude blackmail by the collective West," Zakharova said.
She warned that if the United States went ahead with attempts to push through its stance by means of blackmail and direct threats against other UN member-states, the organization would face a stark question whether it would be able to survive in a situation like this. She stressed that the adoption of any decisions by a majority vote achieved by force was characteristic not of the United Nations, but of such alliances as NATO.