Russia to hold informal UNSC meeting
Russia will hold an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) today.
The meeting’s official aim is to provide first-hand information about Russia’s war on Ukraine through a frontline witness. Unofficially, the meeting is most likely an attempt to shape the narrative of the conflict in light of Ukrainian accounts of war crimes during incidents such as the Bucha massacre.
Russia faces increasing isolation within multilateral organisations such as the UN despite its veto power as a permanent member of the UNSC, which enables it to block resolutions. Nevertheless, today’s meeting shows Russia’s continuing interest in shaping international discourse relating to its invasion of Ukraine.
Today’s UNSC meeting is unlikely to shift the perceptions of the international community towards Russia. In the medium-term, expect Russia to continue its attempts to promote a pro-Russian view on the conflict through its narrative that the invasion’s goal is to denazify Ukraine. However, such attempts are unlikely to have tangible effects considering Russia’s already extensive diplomatic isolation—Western countries have extensive information on the conflict and accounts of atrocities are widespread. Consequently, Russia is likely to incentivise the adoption of its narrative in neutral states in exchange for cheaper energy imports.
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