The President of Finland proposed to kick rogue countries out of the UN Security Council.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb called for changing the system in which one state can block decisions of the UN Security Council and expanding its membership. Stubb also proposed suspending the membership of any country waging an "illegal war" such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Next week, the UN General Assembly will be held in New York. It will discuss the composition of the Security Council and Stubb intends to add his voice to calls for its reform, Reuters reports. UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke about the need for change in accordance with the "realities of today" in May.

Stubb intends to propose to the General Assembly to increase the number of permanent members of the Security Council from five to 10, including one country from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Asia. At the same time, "no country should have the right of veto" in the Security Council, and anyone who is waging an illegal war should be excluded from it, "as Russia is now doing in Ukraine," the president said in an interview with Reuters.

The permanent members are the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States and France. Their membership was approved by the UN Charter in 1945: they were allies (and victors) in World War II, and are also the only officially recognized "powers with nuclear weapons." Each of the permanent members has the right of veto, which is why, in particular, the UN cannot influence the events in Ukraine in any way, except for the adoption of resolutions. Several such documents condemning Russia's actions were adopted by the General Assembly, including immediately after the invasion, but the Kremlin continues to wage a war of aggression.

I wish to point out that Russia's membership was not guaranteed by the UN Charter. The Soviet Union's was. The Soviet Union no longer exists.