From September 19 to 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will work at the UN. He will represent Russia at the so-called High Level Week.
Photo: REUTERS
From 19 to 26 September Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have to work at the UN. He will represent Russia at the so-called High Level Week.
Many are mistaken in believing that it is from this moment that the next UN General Assembly starts. In fact, the 78th session began on September 5th. But it is precisely the High-Level Week that the world media shows the maximum interest every year. After all, almost the entire geopolitical elite of the world comes to New York for seven days. And the city itself turns into a kind of modern Babylon for a week.
What event will be key during Lavrov’s visit to New York?
– During this period, Sergei Lavrov will take part in a number of multilateral events, including through the UN Security Council, BRICS, CSTO and the Group of Friends for the Defense of the UN Charter. In addition, he intends to hold about twenty bilateral meetings… A conversation with the UN Secretary General is also planned… The key event of Sergei Lavrov’s stay in New York will be his speech on September 23 during the general political discussion of the UN General Assembly, she told reporters official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
At the same time, she especially emphasized that the Russian delegation “together with like-minded people will promote a whole range of initiatives on key international topics.”
“Russia will present draft traditional resolutions of the UN General Assembly in such important areas as strengthening the architecture of arms control and non-proliferation, preventing the militarization of space, forming universal rules of conduct in the information space and countering the glorification of Nazism,” Zakharova explained.
What does Joe Biden intend to offer UN members?
Meanwhile, the day before the start of High-Level Week, the White House announced that the US President intends to raise the issue of making changes to the architecture of the UN Security Council.
“We are very clear that the time has come to evaluate the architecture of the UN Security Council,” said Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby ahead of the American leader’s upcoming speech at the UN General Assembly.
Which option for expanding the UN Security Council is considered unacceptable in our country?
Moscow is also very clear when commenting on proposals to expand the UN Security Council.
– It would be logical to expand the composition of the UN Security Council by including new members from developing countries. What are now called states of the global South. This is, for example, India or Brazil. South Africa, maybe. To, so to speak, demonstrate the new role of the countries of the global South in world politics. As for the desire to include Germany and Japan in the UN Security Council, I believe that this is a completely unacceptable option,” he said on the air of Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda former UN Deputy Secretary General Sergei Ordzhonikidze.
Why won’t there be expansion without Russia’s consent?
With expansion, Ordzhonikidze added, difficulties will of course arise. “Because there must be a candidate from each region. And if Brazil becomes a candidate from its region, then the question will immediately arise, for example, from Mexico and Argentina – why not them?” – he explained.
At the same time, Russia, de facto, has the right of veto. Ordzhonikidze explained exactly how such decisions are made.
– Any expansion of the UN Security Council must take place at a special session, by a qualified majority of votes. And then this decision must also be ratified by two-thirds of the votes. The UN Charter says: “…including the ratification of all permanent members of the UN Security Council.” And if we don’t ratify, then nothing will happen,” said the former UN Deputy Secretary General.
