Any departure from UN’s leading role would be sure road to chaos - Putin

SOCHI, October 27. /TASS/. Any departure from the United Nations’ leading role would be the surest road to chaos, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while answering questions at the final session of the international discussion club Valdai on Thursday. "It is essential to get back to what is written down in the UN Charter, because there is no other universal organization like the United Nations in the whole world. Should we abandon it now, we will start along the sure road to chaos. There is no universal alternative in the modern world," Putin said. He believes that the world situation has changed a great deal and the UN Security Council needs reform. That can be done while preserving the effectiveness of the organization on the basis of a wide consensus. The reforms are to be acceptable to an overwhelming majority of the international community, Putin said. The Russian leader stressed the need for returning to the common understanding of the principles and rules of international law, produced on the basis of the UN Charter. Putin recalled that the UN had been established right after World War II, in the context of a certain lineup of forces. "After the breakup of the Soviet Union the United States decided that nothing would have to be coordinated with anybody, that there was nobody to agree fundamental issues with," he stated. The air strikes against Belgrade became possible, Putin said, adding that in fact they were a savage act. He recalled that all that happened in defiance of the UN Charter and there had been no permission to conduct the operation in Yugoslavia. Nor had the UN been asked for consent to military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Read more