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Coronavirus pandemic

UN secretary-general hopes P5 summit may be held before the end of September

The five permanent members are now "mulling over their contribution to formulating ways to fight coronavirus," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier

UNITED NATIONS, June 25./TASS/. A summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, the US, China, France and the UK) could help address contradictions that paralyze the activity of the UN Security Council on certain issues, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an online conference on Thursday.

"I still hope that the summit of the P5 will be possible before the General Assembly. It would be very important to address some of the contradictions which still to the large extend paralyze very important issues to the Security Council," the secretary-general said.

Guterres expressed hope that the main forces in the world would be able to understand that despite the things dividing them, they should team up to mobilize the world to defeat the pandemic, to address the climate change and cybersecurity, as well as ensure a stable recovery of the world after the crisis.

On January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the Jerusalem-hosted World Holocaust Forum when he proposed organizing a summit for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council in 2020.

The five permanent members are now "mulling over their contribution to formulating ways to fight coronavirus," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier. He explained that a videoconference had been coordinated for this, and the date was being considered.

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