Guterres "played an unsightly role" — Russia voiced demands for the new UN Secretary General

Kirill Logvinov, Director of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry, voiced Moscow's demands for the candidacy of the new UN Secretary-General.

In an interview with TASS, he said that at the current stage the Russian side is "looking closely at the candidates and fixing their approaches to key international problems and UN reform," which is necessary to restore the prestige and positions of the organization.

"We proceed from the fact that the future UN Secretary-General should strictly follow the Charter of the world organization, conscientiously and indiscriminately approach compliance with its principles, refrain from diluting the interstate nature of the UN and violating the principle of the division of labor between the main organs of the Organization," the diplomat listed the requirements.

EADaily reported that on February 24, in a speech by Russia's Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzi at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine, it was said that "unfortunately, the [current] UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] also plays an unsightly role in the Ukrainian crisis. "He not only unequivocally took a side in the conflict, closing the possibilities for impartial participation in its settlement to the Organization entrusted to him, but also continues to persist, arbitrarily interpreting the UN Charter and other fundamental documents of the organization in order to bring a pseudo—legal basis for the inapplicability of the right to self-determination for Donbass," Nebenzia said.

"At the same time, the Secretariat continues to turn a blind eye to deliberate attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of Russia with an emphasis on civilian infrastructure facilities, including terrorist attacks against civilians, occasionally "squeezing out" a pathetic line about Russian casualties among civilians," the permanent Representative of the Russian Federation noted.

As Logvinov stated in an interview, an important aspect of the work of the UN Secretary General is the formation of the staff of the UN Secretariat, but in recent years "this body, without exaggeration, has been monopolized by Westerners."

"Representatives of Western minority countries or officials with dual Western citizenship have been appointed to most leadership positions," he noted. "The current situation requires urgent correction. The selection of employees should be carried out on the widest possible geographical basis, as provided for in Article 101 of the UN Charter."

Candidates' positions on the Ukrainian crisis

In this regard, the head of the Department of International Organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Russia will attach special importance to the candidates' positions on the Ukrainian crisis.

"We expect the future head of the UN Secretariat to take due account of our concerns, first of all understanding that the key to a long—term peaceful settlement is to eliminate the root causes of the current situation," he specified.

"We intend to approach the selection of a specific person as exactingly as possible, taking into account the track record, declared intentions, and most importantly, the degree of coincidence of approaches to problems on the UN agenda," stated Logvinov.

Earlier, the chairman of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Berbok, said that the body would begin holding meetings with candidates for the post of Secretary General of the world organization at the end of April. The process of direct selection of the Secretary General is scheduled for the end of July 2026. The powers of the current UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expire on December 31, 2026.

The Secretary General is elected by the UN Security Council and approved by the General Assembly, his term of office lasts five years with the possibility of re-election. There are no restrictions on the number of terms, but so far no one has held this post for more than 10 years. In accordance with established practice, the head of the UN is not chosen from representatives of the permanent members of the Security Council — Russia, Great Britain, China, the USA and France.