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Russia has long advocated for expansion of UN Security Council — senior diplomat

According to Sergey Ryabkov, the Russian side believes that "there are candidates that are quite worthy of becoming permanent members of the Security Council"

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. Russia has long stated that there are many candidates who could potentially join the UN Security Council, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Thursday, commenting on US President Joe Biden’s proposal to increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"We have been advocating for an expansion of the UN Security Council for a long time, in both categories. It is commendable that the US President has finally confirmed what Russia has been saying all along," Ryabkov said, answering a question from TASS.

According to Ryabkov, the Russian side believes that "there are candidates that are quite worthy of becoming permanent members of the Security Council."

Speaking about the general tone of Biden’s speech at the UN General Assembly session, the deputy minister noted that there was "yet another claim for global dominance" contained in it.

"It was an attempt to order everyone in a line," Ryabkov continued. "You know, there’s a saying [in Russia]: ‘if you all are so smart, why don’t you walk in a line?’ This is the heart of the US President’s speech."

Currently, there are five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the UK, China, Russia, the US and France. Each permanent member has veto power. There are also ten non-permanent members, which were chosen by geographical location.