UN Security Council: when do they meet to talk about the Russia UK spy case and what do they do?
BRITAIN faces a showdown with Russia at the UN Security Council as it discusses the latest developments in the Salisbury spy poisoning.
Diplomats will confront Vladimir Putin's envoy after two Russian intelligence agents were named as the smiling assassins caught on CCTV.
When does the UN Security Council meet to talk about the Russian spy case?
The UK has called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, September 6.
It comes a day after police and prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for two suspected GRU officers who are wanted for conspiracy to murder.
They were seen in Salisbury minutes before the Novichok attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal and flew back to Moscow immediately after.
British diplomats will brief the other 14 member nations on the latest developments in the case, which sparked a series of tit-for-tat expulsions earlier this year.
They will accuse the Kremlin of bearing ultimate responsibility for the assassination attempt, the first nerve agent attack in Europe since the Second World War.
Yesterday, an official from the Russian embassy was summoned to the Foreign Office in London and given a dressing down.
But the showdown in New York will be even more dramatic because it will take place in front of TV cameras.
It is unclear whether sanctions will be discussed, and Russia would be expected to use its veto against any measure blaming it for the attack.
Britain expect support from the US and France, and other members of the council allied to the UK including the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.
All five countries expelled Russian spies in the wake of the attack on Salisbury in March this year.
Putin's envoy is expected to hit back at the meeting with a furious denial.
Yesterday Russia's Foreign Ministry laughed off the poisoning with a Twitter video mocking Theresa May's dancing.
What does the UN Security Council do?
The Security Council is one of the most important bodies of the United Nations.
Its role is to maintain international peace and security, solve disputes and develop friendly relations among nations.
It has the power to make binding resolutions, including authorising military force such as during ethnic conflict in Bosnia and Rwanda.
The council can establish peacekeeping missions, using international forces to halt conflicts and protect civilians.
The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members, and nine votes are needed to pass any substantive resolution.
Five nuclear powers - the US, Russia, UK, France and China - are permanent members.
They each have a veto, meaning one of these nations can block any proposed resolutions and sanctions.
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The other ten places are filled by other countries on a rotating basis. They are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
Currently these members are: Bolivia, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Peru, Poland and Sweden.
Representatives of each country must be present at the UN headquarters at all times in case an emergency meeting is called.
Other states which are not members of the Security Council can participate in discussions but not vote.
In April 2017, an astonishing row broke out at the Council when Russian envoys lashed out at Britain and the countries accused each other of undermining peace in Syria.
Russia had used its veto to block a resolution condemning Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons.
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