Moscow surprised, perplexed with Saudi Arabia's decision to refuse post in UN SC - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) - Moscow is surprised by the decision of Saudi Arabia to refuse its non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council and perplexed with Riyadh's reproaches that the UN Security Council is inefficient, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"We are surprised with the unprecedented decision of Saudi Arabia, whose candidacy was supported by the majority of the UN countries-members at the vote in the General Assembly," the Russian Foreign Ministry posted a statement on its website on Friday.
"The reasoning of Saudi Arabia to explain its stance is perplexing. The reproaches to the UN Security Council amid the Syrian crisis sound especially bizarre after the Security Council has unilaterally passed the resolution 2118 forming the legal frames for the comprehensive conflict settlement in Syria," the statement said.
"With its decision Saudi Arabia has abandoned the joint work in the framework of the UN Security Council to support international peace and security," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Five non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for 2014-2015 - Lithuania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Chad and Chili - were chosen during the vote in the UN General Assembly on October 7, the statement said. The countries were nominated by relevant regional groups upon the applications of these countries, the document said.
"However, after the vote in the UN General Assembly was completed, a Saudi news agency has reported an official statement of the Saudi Foreign Ministry that the country refused the place in the Security Council citing some double standards in the activities of the Council, the working methods of which allegedly do not allow it to implement its functions - to support the international peace," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
