Beijing: Moscow supports expanding the UN Security Council (UNSC), but not by admitting Germany and Japan, Russian Ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov, said on Monday.
In his address at the plenary session of the UN World Peace Forum in Beijing, Denisov, whose key statements have been published on the embassy’s social media accounts, he claimed that the Security Council has become a place where “the Western colleagues carry out propaganda, presenting their views as the ultimate truth”, RT reported.
Therefore, he argued, there is a pressing need to reform the UN.
“Our country is in favour of expanding the composition of the UN Security Council on the basis of a broad consensus. To do this, it is necessary to increase the share of African, Asian and Latin American states,” Denisov said, explaining that this would make the council “more democratic”.
He added that Russia is open to the idea of membership for India and Brazil, but not Germany and Japan, “since this will not change the internal balance in any way”, RT reported.
His remarks followed multiple calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to strip Russia of its membership, amid Moscow’s military operation in his country. The US, however, has repeatedly made it clear that Russia will remain a permanent member of the UNSC, as there is no way to exclude the country.
There have been discussions about increasing the number of permanent Security Council members since the approval of the UN Charter in 1945. Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan have made the strongest demands, the report said.
