ASTANA, July 3. /TASS/. The United Nations is ready to cooperate with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in resolving and preventing conflicts, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with Kazakhstan’s Silk Way TV channel.

"We can work together first of all, in the prevention of conflict. It's good to solve a conflict; it's better to avoid it. <…> We can work together in counterterrorism," he said. "Our Office of Counterterrorism is ready to fully cooperate with the Shanghai Cooperation Council in relation to your own concerns in relation to violent extremism and terrorism."

The global organization's chief said both the UN and the SCO are committed to peace, dialogue and problem solving. They also share a similar vision of a world that is not divided or fragmented.

"I think the cooperation of the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Council can contribute to this bringing together different parts of the world, and to limit the damage caused by the fact that the superpowers are at odds with each other," he said. "When the superpowers are at odds with each other, countries like Kazakhstan have a very important role. And organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Council have a very important role to make sure that we are able to address the conflicts."

In an earlier interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman, Guterres said that international organizations, such as the SCO, BRICS, the African Union or the Organization of Islamic Cooperation are among essential partners of the United Nations. In his opinion, there is a number of situations "in which the regional organizations can solve problems the UN cannot solve."

Russia will hold a UN Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on July 19, during Russia’s presidency at the decision-making body of the United Nations.