Lavrov Encouraged by Prospects for Putin’s Effort To Convene UNSC Permanent Five Summit

Feb. 26, 2020 (EIRNS)—Commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Jan. 23 proposal for a summit of the five permanent UN Security Council member states—the UN founding nations Russia, France, China, the U.S. and the U.K.—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that prospects were promising. “As you know, Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his colleagues to hold a summit of five permanent members. This summit would definitely become a starting point for making landmark decisions in the interests of the entire world community. The reaction to this proposal is promising, we will be working on fulfilling it,” Lavrov said.

“At this landmark moment, they should demonstrate special responsibility for ensuring international peace and security,” he declared. Lavrov said the UN founding fathers had sought “this kind of multilateral cooperation in ironing out global issues.”

This last comment is confirmed by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son, Elliot, in his book, As He Saw It, in which he reports on the February 1945 Yalta Conference, the last conference of the “Big Three,” with FDR, Stalin and Churchill. It was devoted mostly to the establishment of the United Nations, and was considered the first of many such conferences that would continue into the postwar period. After Roosevelt’s death in April 1945, and Harry Truman’s ascendency as President under Churchill’s thumb, Truman refused to hold a summit with Stalin after Allies Potsdam summit, which refusal became a major factor to the emergence of the Cold War.

Now, 75 years later, Mike Pompeo’s State Department continues to refuse visas to Russian diplomats to attend United Nations sessions in New York, a violation of the letter and spirit of the United Nations founding agreements.

Commenting on the violation, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gennady Kuzmin told a session of the UN Committee on Relations with the Host Country on Feb. 25: “The crisis of non-issuing visas to representatives of member countries is only growing. The U.S. does not issue visas to Russian delegates who are supposed to work at the Russian mission. Visas of diplomats who already work at the mission are not being extended. Russian citizens who were chosen to work at the UN Secretariat do not get visas. This policy also affects other countries as well.”

Since the start of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, more than 20 Russian delegates have not been issued U.S. visas, reports TASS.