UNITED NATIONS, November 1. /TASS/. The one-month presidency of the UN Security Council has passed to the United Kingdom, a permanent member of the Council. In October, Switzerland held the presidency of this UN body.

At 1:00 p.m. New York time (5:00 p.m. GMT), UK’s permanent representative to the UN Barbara Woodward will hold a press conference at the UN headquarters, where she will announce to reporters the program of the UN Security Council meetings.

It is possible that one of the first meetings of the Security Council under the UK presidency will be held on Monday, November 4. A UN source told TASS on Thursday that the United Kingdom, Malta, Slovenia, the United States, France, South Korea and Japan have requested a meeting of the UN Security Council for November 4 in connection with North Korea's missile launch.

At the same time, the situation in the Middle East, especially in the Gaza Strip and on the Israeli-Lebanese border, is expected to be the main topic of the UN Security Council members' meetings in October. In total, the UN Security Council will hold about two dozen open meetings and closed consultations during the month.

The UN Security Council consists of 15 members, including five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each of the five has veto power. The ten non-permanent members of the UN Security Council this year are Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Malta, Japan, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, and Ecuador. According to the UN Charter, the Security Council is responsible for maintaining peace and international security, and all UN member states are obliged to abide by its decisions.

The countries represented on the Security Council take turns presiding over its work in alphabetical order of the English language. A country holds the presidency of the Security Council for one calendar month. In December, another permanent member, the United States, will preside over the work of the Security Council.