Next UN chief must heed Moscow, Russian deputy FM says

The next secretary-general of the United Nations must heed Russia’s demands if he does not want to see the organisation fade away, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said.

He emphasised that Moscow is interested in concrete action rather than mere words and assurances, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Earlier, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, who is among the candidates for the next UN secretary-general, said the organisation was gradually losing its significance and slowly dying.

“The next secretary-general simply has to listen to our demands if he does not want the United Nations to fade away,” Ryabkov added, commenting on Grossi’s remarks.

The deputy foreign minister stressed that Russia expects concrete action rather than just statements and assurances.

“We will unwaveringly demand [this] from all candidates [for the post of UN secretary-general] and, in our relations with whoever ultimately wins, we will be guided precisely by this set of imperative approaches of ours, without which, we are convinced, the crisis inherent in the current state of the United Nations will only worsen. And any parallels or metaphors may be used,” he stressed.

“Perhaps this is something one would not want to allow when it becomes necessary to transfer the organisation to a ward, so to speak, of political intensive care. There is still some time before that,” Ryabkov remarked.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov