AFP news agency reported on the 24th (local time) that the helplessness of the United Nations was once again exposed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.



On the night of the 23rd, an emergency meeting of the Security Council was being held in New York, USA to prevent war, but Russia began to advance across the border of Ukraine during the meeting as if it had been waiting.



At the moment when ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France were reading prepared speeches urging Russia to diplomatically resolve tensions over Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation on state TV.



When news of the invasion reached the United Nations headquarters in New York, the mood turned to disappointment, anger and despair, AFP said.



Ukrainian UN ambassador Sergei Kislijah pleaded with each country to "stop war by all means possible" at an emergency meeting that day. There was none.



With Putin intending to attack and Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, has the power to veto a resolution, what can the UN do?



Coincidentally, the current chair of the Security Council is also Russia.



The monthly chairperson doesn't have strong powers, but it does have an influence when it comes to coordinating meetings and things like that.



"The Security Council will never solve this crisis," said Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental think tank. said.



Security Council resolutions are adopted by at least 9 out of 15 member states, and UN member states must comply with the resolutions.



However, Russia and the five permanent members of the United States, Britain, France and China can reject a Security Council resolution.



The UN has not prevented any wars waged by these permanent members since its establishment in 1945.



By vetoing World War II victors, these countries are downgrading the United Nations to simply providing humanitarian aid in the event of a natural disaster or war, AFP said.



The UN Security Council has not changed in the last 77 years, and the 10 non-permanent members that do not have veto power are only replaced every two years by way of election.



Regular non-permanent members such as India, Japan, and Germany demand that they also be given permanent members or a position to exercise their veto, arguing that the United Nations should be reformed in consideration of the current multipolar international order.



However, this voice has not been well-received for many years.



"Essentially, [the United Nations] is entrusting a chicken coop to a fox," said Pamela Chasek, dean of the Department of Political Science at the University of Manhattan in New York.



Russia has repeatedly vetoed the Syrian war on more than 15 occasions, and it will thwart a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine, which will be unveiled on the 25th, the news agency said.



A document similar to the resolution is also sent to the UN General Assembly, where 193 member states gather, but it is also not binding.



A similar situation occurred when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, but eight years later Russia still controls the region, AFP noted.



(Photo = UN TV video capture, Yonhap News)