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Russia has many questions for UN chief, Russia’s envoy says

Vasily Nebenzya said that he has "good personal relations" with the secretary general

UNITED NATIONS, April 26. /TASS/. Some actions of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres raise many questions in Moscow, Russia's envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman.

"We have a lot of questions to him about, for example, how he reacted to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what he writes sometimes in his reports, why he does not react to actions that affect the interests of the West," the diplomat said. "We also have questions about the behavior of the secretariat with respect to the UN host country's compliance with its obligations, including the issuance of visas and many other things. We had questions and still have questions about the way the UN responded to the conflict in Ukraine, often disregarding the article of the [UN] Charter that requires the secretariat staff to be neutral in their assessments, behavior and statements."

However, the envoy also said that he has "good personal relations" with the secretary general.

"Yet we do not hide stuff and speak directly about what we consider necessary to say to the secretary general, and he takes it, naturally, for granted," Nebenzya said.

When asked about the best secretary general in the UN history, the Russian diplomat did not single out anyone, but noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "had a great deal of respect for Kofi Annan." Lavrov was Russia’s envoy to the UN during Annan term in office. Nebenzya also mentioned Boutros Ghali's decisiveness when he was at the head of the UN, and also said that many UN employees highly appreciated Javier Perez de Cuellar as UN secretary general as he "never got to the forefront, but was able to listen to his subordinates and make decisions collectively."

"This is a matter of personal preference who regards who as the best secretary general," Nebenzya said.

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Foreign policy Vasily Nebenzya

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