MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Moscow calls for carefully considered reforms of the UN Security Council, with a focus on making it more democratic by giving greater say to countries of the Global South and East, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement after Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s meeting with the permanent UN representatives of Kuwait and the Netherlands, Tareq Albanai and Lise Gregoire-van Haaren, who co-chair the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on UN Security Council reform.
"The parties focused on the current round of intergovernmental negotiations, which is taking place during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. Sergey Lavrov highlighted Russia’s principled position in favor of well-calibrated changes in the UN Security Council, which would be aimed at enhancing its authority and effectiveness, as well as at making it more democratic by expanding the representation of the countries of the Global South and East," the statement reads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also pointed out that "major differences on all aspects of the reform process remain" between participants in the intergovernmental negotiations. "In such a situation, further detailed discussion of the issue is required during the current intergovernmental negotiations, without any deadlines, so that the member states can achieve the broadest possible agreement," the ministry maintained.