UNITED NATIONS, October 21. /TASS/. Moscow believes expanding the UN Security Council by accepting more Western countries is out of the question, Russia's envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.

"We believe it would be unacceptable to further increase the number of Western representatives in the council, as they are already over-represented there," he said in an interview with TASS.

The diplomat also said Russia is "against diluting the prerogatives of permanent members, including the right of veto, which is an instrument that ensures that the council takes balanced decisions."

The UN Security Council consists of 15 countries, of which five (Russia, the UK, China, the US and France) are permanent members and 10 are non-permanent members that are elected for two years. The Security Council is responsible for maintaining peace and international security, and all UN member countries are obliged to obey its decisions.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that most UN countries recognize the need to reform the Security Council. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Security Council should be expanded not by admitting more Western countries, but having more representatives from Asia, Africa and Latin America.