LONDON, Sep. 18 (TASS) - US President Joe Biden will reaffirm Washington’s intent to expand the UN Security Council during his speech at the UN General Assembly, US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said in his interview for The Daily Telegraph.
"We’ve been clear that we believe that it is time to take a look at the architecture of the Security Council. We believe that it should be more inclusive and comprehensive," he said.
Kirby added that Biden will reiterate the US’ support of the Security Council expansion this week.
Currently, there are five permanent members in the Security Council: Russia, the UK, China, the US and France. Each of these nations has a veto power in the council. Additional 10 states, elected under the principle of geography, have non-permanent member status.
Representatives of the US Administration have repeatedly spoken in favor of reforming the UN Security Council. In particular, Biden said during his previous speech at the General Assembly last year that Washington supports the increase of the number of permanent members, including via African and Latin American States. Previously, it has become known that Washington also supports providing a permanent member status to India. In addition, according to The Daily Telegraph, the US would like to see Germany and Japan in the reformed Security Council.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that Russia particularly notes India and Brazil as worthy candidate for permanent membership, with mandatory representation of Africa.