Expert debate series“Prism Security Debates” Position statement: «The limits of possible: What can Ukraine achieve as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?» Yulia KURNYSHOVA, Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism 1. Stages of development of cooperation in the field of security The right to security, as one guaranteed by the UN Charter, is a universal right, and Ukraine, as the organization's member state, has a right to petition this organization in situations that require international regulation or intervention. As Ukraine is not a part of any security bloc, under the conditions of a military threat, addressing the UN is a priority. For the first time after the collapse of the USSR, the necessity to petition the UN emerged in the early 1990s, when the Russian Federation tried to revert the Crimean peninsula becoming a part of the independent Ukraine. Then, Ukraine petitioned the UN Security Council and received clear confirmations of its territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders(Resolution S/26118). At that time, the international situation was favorable for Ukraine. The wave of emancipation of the former Soviet republics and the UN ’s quite successful role during Iraq ’s aggression against Kuwait were helping to increase the organization ’s importance and authority. In 2003, during the conflict around Tuzla sandbank and Russia's construction of a dam in the Kerch Strait, Ukraine again faced the necessity to ask the influential international institutions for assistance. The conflict was settled owing to the"personal diplomacy" between Kuchma and Putin, but, obviously, the resolution was not final. In this case, what manifested was the Ukrainian political leaders’ inclination to resolve conflicts"without washing dirty linen in public" and, by doing so, to try to retain good neighborly relationship with Russia. In addition, at that time, the"Treaty on friendship, cooperation, and partnership" between Ukraine and Russia as of 1997 had already been in effect, and, based on it, the disputes were subject to"settling by means of consultations and negotiations between the High Contracting Parties".