The Veto: Five Powers Can Block the Security Council

The UN Charter entered into force on 24 October 1945. It gave China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States permanent Security Council seats. Its voting rules allowed a permanent member to block substantive decisions with a negative vote; procedural decisions were exempt. A permanent member's abstention does not block adoption. The photograph shows the Council chamber in 2006. Image: Patrick Gruban, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.