MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Stripping the UN Security Council’s five permanent members of their power to veto would destroy the well-designed system of checks and balances, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday.
Last week, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev said that 67 member states support an initiative to end the right to veto, following an October 2013 proposal by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to impose veto limits in extreme cases only.
"We believe this idea is flawed,” Gatilov said at a press conference held at International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya.
“It is a mechanism of checks and balances that prevent the adoption of not fully informed decisions. We believe that the veto powers should stay. Throughout the history of the United Nations, this mechanism has proven to be effective,” Gatilov stressed.
Only the five permanent UNSC members, namely Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France, have the power to veto, a right that is unconditional and codified in the UN Charter.
