Russian lawmaker hopes Guterres will boost UN credibility

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev believes the only good that new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres can do in his post is to strengthen the Organization’s role established in its Charter, make all the member states respect the Charter and enhance the UN’s credibility.

"Yesterday journalists asked me, what good can Antonio Guterres do for Russia, will he be good for us?" the head of Russia’s Federation Council Committee for Foreign Affairs wrote on his Facebook page. "This question shows that they don’t truly understand what our expectations for the new UN Secretary General are," Kosachev noted, adding that in his opinion, "any politician in this post advocating the interests of one country or group of countries, will destroy the organization."

"Bear in mind, the UN’s weakening will play into the hands of those whom the organization works to prevent from violating international law," Kosachev stressed.

"This is why the only good thing for Russia and the whole world that Antonio Guterres can do while in office, is strengthen the Organization’s role established in its Charter, make all the member states respect the Charter, enhance the UN’s credibility already lost in many respects, and also restore the UN’s key role in settling international conflicts," the Russian senator added.

At the same time, he emphasized that Moscow did not expect the new UN Secretary General to provide it with some preferences as Russia "is not one of the violators of international law." Compared to its well-known rivals, Russia has less political, economic and military power so it is interested "in the comprehensive strengthening of the legal basis of international relations since it is the only real tool for balancing countries’ positions in the modern world," Kosachev stated.