RIC Foreign Ministers to discuss UN reform in Moscow

The foreign ministers of RIC countries (Russia, India, China) – Sergei Lavrov, Sushma Swaraj and Wang Yi – will be discussing trilateral cooperation and UN reforms next week in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced in an interview with reporters from Mongolia, Japan and China.

“In forming the BRICS, we have not lost interest in promoting trilateral cooperation between Russia, India and China. We all see very good prospects in such cooperation. Its particular importance is that these three BRICS countries are located in the same region. In addition to the forms of interaction that are being implemented by the “five” within the BRICS format, we have additional opportunities, including when it comes to the implementation of infrastructure projects, within the framework of trilateral cooperation. We will be talking about this at meetings with the foreign ministers of China and India, as well as about our cooperation in the UN, as we are promoting various initiatives in that Organization,” said Mr. Lavrov.

Mr. Lavrov also stated that the three could not ignore talking about UN reforms as well, including the reforming of the Security Council. “Here Russia and China share a common position. We exclusively support such decisions that will be able to obtain the broadest possible consensus. We do not wish to have imposed, via voting, certain projects that do not enjoy broad support in the UN, and risk splitting up the Organization. This is what our trilateral meetings will be focusing on,” said Mr. Lavrov.

In parallel with the meeting of the three ministers, Mr. Lavrov said that bilateral talks would be held with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. “Not so long ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi came here for bilateral talks, and this time as well, we will be holding bilateral talk with him during the the ministerial meeting of the RIC countries,” he added.

First published in Russian by RIA Novosti.

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