Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, Nickie Aiken, spoke out in the House of Commons on Russia's membership of the UN Security Council following its invasion of Ukraine.
Testimonies continue to come out of Ukraine of how Russian troops are using rape as a weapon. On the 26th April, The Telegraph's Danielle Sheridan reported the account of a 41 year old woman from Ukraine who said she was raped by a 19 year old soldier.
Speaking out in the Chamber, Nickie raised,
"Mr Speaker, today's Daily Telegraph includes the testimony of a 41 year old woman from Ukraine who said she was raped by a 19 year old soldier.
"I note that the UN Secretary-General, is meeting Mr Putin today to discuss humanitarian aid, and I hope he will bring up the use of rape as a weapon of war, which the Russians seem to be using.
"With this in mind, does my Rt. Honourable Friend agree with me that as the UN's Charter mandate is to maintain international peace and security, perhaps it is time that the international community questioned whether Russia should remain a permanent member of the Security Council?"
Foreign Secretary, Elizabeth Truss MP, replied,
"My Honourable Friend is right about the appalling reports in the Telegraph and other newspapers that we have seen is the use of rape in Ukraine. The Security Council does have a role to play. Under our presidency, we have used it to call out Russia's lies. We have also hosted President Zelenskyy to speak to the Council.
"But she is also right that we do have concerns about an international security architecture that has Russia as one of the permanent members of the Security Council, and they have used their veto as a green light for barbarism. And part of our response has been working more closely with allies like the G7, allies like NATO, because we simply haven't seen enough taking place at a UN level."
