Security Council
Background
The Security Council of the United Nations is one of the six principal organs of the UN and has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Its mandate, set out in the UN Charter, includes establishing peacekeeping operations, authorizing military action, and imposing international sanctions. Under Chapter VII, it can determine the existence of threats to peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression, then authorize responses that may include the use of force. It is also the only UN body whose resolutions are binding on all member states, which makes it central to the international system for collective security.
The Council has 15 members, comprising five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States — and ten non-permanent members elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms. The permanent members each hold veto power over substantive resolutions, allowing any one of them to block adoption of a draft resolution regardless of support from the other members. The Council’s presidency rotates monthly among all 15 members in English alphabetical order. Within the broader UN structure, it works alongside the General Assembly and other principal organs, while also recommending new UN members and approving Charter changes.
Created in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations’ role in preserving international order, the Council held its first session in January 1946 in London. During the Cold War, rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union often limited its activity, although it still authorized interventions and peacekeeping missions in places such as Korea, the Congo, Cyprus, and the Sinai. After the Soviet Union’s dissolution, the Council expanded its peacekeeping role in conflicts including Kuwait, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia, and Somalia, but in the 2020s it has again faced repeated deadlock over major conflicts, including Ukraine and Gaza. Recent UN peacekeeping operations remain an important part of how its decisions are carried out, with missions involving military, police, and civilian personnel provided by member states.
Timeline
Russia did not request a UN Security Council meeting over Ukraine’s missile strike on Bryansk.
Russia Will Not Request a UN Security Council Meeting Over the Ukrainian Armed Forces Strike on Bryansk
Documents
Russia Will Not Request a UN Security Council Meeting Over the Ukrainian Armed Forces Strike on Bryansk
Russia's UN envoy Nebenzya said Moscow will not request a UN Security Council meeting over Ukraine's missile strike on Bryansk, which killed seven civilians.