BEIJING, May 4. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) does not aim at replacing the United Nations, although its activities are becoming more and more popular in the world, Russia's Permanent Representative to the SCO Secretariat Natalia Stepkina told TASS in an interview.
"[The SCO] has never set out to replace the UN, although our organization's activities and philosophy are becoming increasingly attractive to many nations around the world. It has already become one of the key poles of multilateral interaction," Stepkina said.
According to the envoy, Russia has always advocated strengthening the foundations of the world organization and maintaining its role in international affairs. "Now more than ever, it is necessary to defend and protect the UN, to oppose the introduction of confrontational and destructive agenda to this platform, to preserve it as a format for honest discussions to find a balance of interests of all member states," she pointed out.
Stepkina emphasized that the SCO had its own tasks, which complemented the positive interaction within the UN. The SCO and the UN are actively cooperating. A declaration on cooperation between the secretariats of the two organizations and memorandums of understanding have been signed with a number of UN agencies.