Putin calls for gradual reforms at UN, but basic principles should remain in place

SOCHI, October 19. /TASS/. The United Nations needs to carry out gradual reforms based on a broad consensus, while basic principles should stay in force, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Valdai International Discussion Club on Thursday. "There is the need for reforms and improving the UN system, but the reforms may be only gradual and evolutional ones, and of course, they should be supported by the overwhelming majority of participants of the international process inside the organization itself, or a broad consensus," the Russian leader said. Speaking on the veto right at the UN Security Council, which some states try to call into question, Putin noted that this tool had been devised to avoid a direct confrontation between the leading powers and as a guarantee against arbitrariness and that no country, even the most influential one, could be able to make its aggressive steps seem to be legal. "Certainly, truth be told, all experts know here that some steps were so that the UN post factum legitimized the steps of certain participants of international community. Even so, but this won’t lead to anything good either," the president said. The success formula for the UN efficiency is not about its representativeness, Putin stressed. "After years and decades, the UN basic principles should remain in place, there is no other structure that is capable to show the whole palette of world politics," he said, calling to seek harmony and cooperation. Regional organizations in Eurasia, America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific Region should act under the auspices of the UN and coordinate their work and each group has the right to operate in line with its own principles and their cultural, historic and geographic peculiarities, he said. The Russian leader called to combine global interdependence and openness with preserving unique identity of each nation and region, and respect sovereignty as the basis of international relations. Read more