MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. London has been showing interest in holding a meeting of five permanent UN Security Council member states (Russia, France, China, the US and the UK), Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"Yes, certain signals are coming that the United Kingdom will also be interested in holding this meeting," Peskov said, answering a question whether London had officially responded to the proposal.

Earlier, a British government spokesperson told TASS that the UK in principle supported Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to hold a summit of permanent members of the UN Security Council in 2020 and was in contact with the Russian government on this issue.

The UN Security Council Five meeting will very likely take place, and it is too early to talk about whether the coronavirus spread will affect these plans, Dmitry Peskov stated.

"Everyone says that the Anniversary UN General Assembly meeting would become the best venue for the meeting of the Five. It will be September, and there is a lot of time; it’s too early to speak about how and if the coronavirus would affect [the meeting]. Currently, we consider perspectives of such a meeting — which all of us, all humanity, needs so much — to be very positive and very likely," Peskov said.

Speaking at the World Holocaust Forum on January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested calling a meeting of the five permanent UN Security Council member states (Russia, the UK, China, the US and France), in 2020. The initiative was supported by China, France and the UN authorities. On Friday, Peskov disclosed that London also shows interest in the meeting.