UNITED NATIONS, March 31. /TASS/. Russia cannot be deprived of the right to chair the UN Security Council, calls for this are absurd, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said in an exclusive interview with TASS. Russia will take the chair of the UN Security Council in April.
"The status of the Russian Federation as the continuator state of the USSR is officially recognized by the international community. Russia's exclusion from the UN Security Council is impossible without changes to the UN Charter, just as it is impossible to deprive Russia of the right to chair the Council. This is simply absurd," he said.
The Russian diplomat noted that those who call "to deprive Russia of its legitimate legal status are well aware of the legal side of the issue."
Nebenzya drew attention to the fact that the UN’s work as such will be devalued without Russia’s presence in this international organization.
"Without Russia not only will the work of the Security Council lose its meaning, but also the work of the UN as a whole. And that will mean the destruction of the entire established system of international relations," he said and noted that Russia’s colleagues at the UN Security Council "understand this very well."
Full text of the interview is published on TASS website: https://tass.com/politics/1596965.