MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Kirill Logvinov, Director of the Department for International Organizations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said an even wider pool of candidates for a new UN chief from various regional groups could be considered.
"Fundamentally, we still believe that, in accordance with the informal principle of geographical representation, it’s now the group of Latin American and Caribbean countries’ turn to nominate candidates. At the early stages of the race we promised to respect this tradition to our Latin American partners," the senior Russian diplomat said in an interview with TASS.
If none of the candidates nominated by the region passes the indicative votes that are currently being held at the Security Council, he explained, "we will be ready to consider a wider range of candidates from other regional groups that would meet our criteria and could command as much support from UN Security Council members as possible."
The situation surrounding the selection of candidates for the position at the helm of the global body is developing dynamically, Logvinov said. "The tension is rising, and expectations are multiplying. Therefore, consultations between members of the P5 are held even more often - at various levels and in various formats," he shared.
According to the diplomat, "we see the need for the other permanent members to make as much effort as possible before [the incumbent UN Secretary-General Antonio] Guterres’ powers expire and reach a consensus on finding a replacement to the Portuguese," he concluded.