UN fails to agree on criteria for reform of the Security Council

The UN has not yet agreed on the basic criteria for a possible reform of the Security Council (SC). It has not been possible to decide either which countries to consider as candidates for new Security Council members or which of its categories to expand. Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's first deputy post-presidential representative to the UN, told Izvestia.

"Specific candidates have not yet been put forward. And this is one of the problems in the reform process, because it is not clear who exactly will apply for what positions and in which membership category. The question of which categories of the Security Council will be expanded has not been decided yet, and there are different positions on this issue: some believe that it is enough to increase the number of non-permanent members, maybe to give them a longer term, and some insist that the categories of permanent membership should be expanded as well," the Russian diplomat said.

The UNSC reform is envisioned by the "Pact for the Future," which was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2024. At the same time, according to Polyansky, the pact has no influence on the reform of the Security Council.

"The reform process is carried out within the framework of intergovernmental negotiations, this is the only platform agreed upon by the UN member states," Polyansky added.

Read more in Izvestia's exclusive piece:

Full of powerful: the UN can't agree on the reform of the Security Council