Kiev Should 'Sort Out Mess at Home' Before Asking to Strip Russia of Veto Power

The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman called on Kiev to focus on domestic affairs instead of proposing to deprive Moscow of its UN Security Council power of veto.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ukraine should sort out its domestic affairs before proposing to strip Russia of its UN Security Council power of veto, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"First you need to sort out the mess at home, get everything on the right track there, then take up the improvement of international mechanisms," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a weekly briefing.

Her comments came in response to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin's proposal to "remove the veto power abuses" at Tuesday's Security Council Open Debate on Conflicts in Europe.

"So far, international mechanisms are working well enough without Mr. Klimkin," Zakharova noted, urging once again for Kiev to focus on its domestic affairs.

Klimkin called Russia's membership in the UN Security Council "a fundamental problem", and again accused it of fueling conflicts in Europe.

Currently all permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia, the United States, China, France, and Britain — have the power of veto. Moscow, Washington and Beijing have spoken against any initiatives to curb it.