UNITED NATIONS, February 8. /TASS/. The United Nations Security Council is in a deadlock, with mechanism regulating relations between superpowers not working, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
"The United Nations Security Council - the primary platform for questions of global peace - is deadlocked by geopolitical fissures. This is not the first time the Council has been divided. But it is the worst. Today’s dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous," he told a plenary meeting of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly outlining the organization’s priorities in 2024.
"During the Cold War, well-established mechanisms helped manage superpower relations. In today’s multipolar world, such mechanisms are missing," he stated. "Our world has entered an age of chaos."
According to the UN chief, the United Nations Security Council "must be able to take decisions and implement them," as well as be more representative. "It is totally unacceptable that the African continent is still waiting for a permanent seat," Guterres stressed.
The United Nations Security Council is comprised of 15 countries, of which five (Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States, and France) are permanent members and the rest ten are elected for a term of two years. The UN chief said earlier that most of the UN member countries recognized the need for a Security Council reform. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that the UN Security Council should be expanded by representatives from the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.