Moscow Skeptical about Idea to Limit Veto Right at UN Security Council

TEHRAN (defapress) - Russia is skeptical about the idea of limiting the veto right at the UN Security Council, which is the organization’s crucial mechanism of finding adequate solutions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the pan-African monthly Hommes d'Afriq magazine.

News ID: 69025

Date: 05 March 2018 - 16:00

The interview comes in the run-up to Lavrov’s tour of the African countries beginning on Monday. Russia’s top diplomat is scheduled to visit Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, TASS news agency reported.

According to Lavrov, the dialogue on the UN Security Council’s reform needs to continue and all the proposals should be considered "without any rush, artificially narrowing the agenda and setting random timeframes and deadlines."

"For us, the benchmark is the task of making the Council more representative but without hurting its effectiveness," Lavrov said. "Its membership should reflect the process of establishing and enhancing a polycentric world order."

"At the same time, we are skeptical about the idea of limiting the veto right," Lavrov stressed. "We view the veto as an important element of developing adequate decisions of the Council and defending the interests of minorities."

The veto power is given to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States. These states can use their veto to block the UN Security Council’s resolutions.