Russia backs UN Security Council reform

Russia backs the expansion of the UN Security Council if the format is supported by at least two-thirds of the member-nations, the Russian news agency Sputnik reported Wednesday, quoting Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.

"We are ready to back a variant of expanding the [UN] Security Council if it is approved by an overwhelming number of member states, and best if it is 100 percent [of them in favor], but more than two-thirds of the states," Gatilov told journalists.

"But given the fact that the problem of expansion is very sensitive and politically important for the future of the organization, we consider two-thirds as an insufficient number of votes, and we need to have much more support for one or another variant to be adopted," Gatilov stressed.

The need to reform the United Nations organization as a whole and the UN Security Council in particular has been discussed since the early 1990s. The organization’s current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly pointed out to changes that need to be made in the UN.

On Monday, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told the UN General Assembly that UN Security Council reform must be based on consensus.

Source: MENA