So far, the Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been the most contentious in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials. More fireworks are to come later in the month when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presides over the premier event of the presidency — an open council meeting on defending the principles of the U.N. Charter. The presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly in alphabetical order of its 15 members. The Security Council president presides over meetings and gets to decide the topics of signature sessions, often chaired by foreign ministers and sometimes presidents. To start their presidency, the Russians chose one of the hottest issues of the Ukraine war — the fate of Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
