Putin demands UN reform against Western countries’ influence

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for urgent reform at the United Nations to allow countries from all continents to make meaningful contributions.

Putin addressed the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, themed “Responsibility for the Future: Limits of the Possible, or Limitless Possibilities?”

Referencing the UN Charter, the President stressed that the document stipulates that the UN operates as a central coordinating mechanism in international affairs.

Putin said despite being the most representative international organisation, the UN falls short of collective and democratic principles in the way it is being managed compared to its original design.

“A narrow grouping of Western countries wields a disproportionately large influence,” he noted. “It constitutes a global minority by all accounts while seeking to appropriate administrative functions.”

Putin observed that the imbalance within the UN system is increasingly obvious, as countries see their influence diminish and are “taken over by a more independent and confident global majority.”

Reiterating his country’s advocacy of a fair reform of the UN, the President believes such an amendment is impossible without internal consensus that is difficult to achieve today.

Russia wants a UN structure that fully reflects global diversity so that countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East can play “a far more significant role.”

UN reform, according to Putin, entails more than expanding the Security Council or adopting measures for a more balanced geographical representation in international governing bodies.

It also involves redefining the UN’s substance and priorities, including future ones, “given that global changes are creating a list of new dilemmas that did not exist before,” the President said.