Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the "failure" of the United Nations , after Russia assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of April on Saturday.

"It is difficult to imagine anything that proves (more clearly) the complete failure of such institutions," Zelensky said in his evening address.

"There is no form of terrorism that Russia has not practiced," he added, calling for "reform of international institutions, including the UN Security Council."

And the Ukrainian president stressed that this "reform, which is obviously long overdue, includes preventing a terrorist state... from destroying the world."

Terrorists must lose, they must be held responsible for terrorism and they must not assume the presidency anywhere."

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba considered that "Russia's presidency of the Security Council is a slap in the face of the international community."

On Twitter, he called on the "current members" of the council to "confront any Russian attempt to abuse this presidency."

However, these criticisms did not prevent Moscow from confirming that its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will lead its delegation to the United Nations this month, succeeding Mozambique.

"The other main event of the Russian presidency is the (Security) Council's open high-level discussion on effective multilateralism by defending the principles of the UN Charter, and this meeting will be chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Thursday.

Zakharova noted that Lavrov also intends to chair a discussion session on the Middle East on April 25.

A critical response soon came from Kiev's diplomatic backers, particularly the United States.

"We expect Russia to continue to use its seat to spread disinformation and attempt to deflect attention from its attempts to justify its actions in Ukraine and war crimes committed by members of its armed forces," White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre said Thursday.

She added, "A country that brazenly violates the United Nations Charter and invades its neighbor has no place in the Security Council."

The three Baltic countries, which strongly support Ukraine, considered that Russia's assumption of the presidency of the Security Council was an "April lie."

"April Fool's Day is a perfect day" for Moscow, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said sarcastically, adding, "Russia, which is waging a brutal war on Ukraine, can only lead the council of insecurity."

The Estonian diplomatic mission to the United Nations said it was "shameful and humiliating" for the UN Security Council to lead Russia, which is headed by Vladimir Putin, "a war criminal for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court."

For its part, Russia says at the United Nations that it is facing the "collective West" that has prevented it from dealing with the countries of the world since the start of its military attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

The first meeting of the Security Council under the Russian presidency takes place on Monday morning, but it will include only the usual closed discussions on the work program for this month.

The meeting will be followed, as usual, by a press conference for the new head of this body, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia.

In this regard, a diplomat serving on the Security Council stressed the fact that "the presidency is cyclical, it is monthly, it is a short term presidency and it is not as important as the presidency of the G-20 or the G-7 or the European Union that lasts six months or a year and where you can push your own agenda."

He added, "In the event of abuse of the presidency, we will respond, of course. This is not the goal, what is important is the war in Ukraine and work to end it."

The Russian presidency of the Security Council comes a week after Putin announced his desire to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, his only European diplomatic ally, which reinforces the fears of the West.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron discussed with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, during a telephone conversation on Saturday, "the diplomatic efforts that must be made to organize a peace summit."

The two presidents discussed "the military situation in Ukraine," and Macron "renewed his support for Kiev to put an end to Russian aggression," according to the French presidency, in a statement.

For his part, Zelensky said via Telegram that he and his counterpart discussed the "next steps to implement" his ten-point peace plan, adding, "We coordinated the procedures for the upcoming international events."

"We discussed in detail for an hour, we talked about the situation on the front line, our political cooperation, and ways to move forward in implementing the Ukrainian peace project. I thank France for its continued support," Zelensky said during his daily address to the nation.

Paris said the two leaders also discussed "the troubling situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by the Russian armed forces" since March 2022.

The call comes a few days after the visit of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to Ukraine.

The Elysee stated that Grossi "will meet President Macron soon," noting that the French and Ukrainian presidents stressed "the importance of supporting the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency at the site."