Russia invites UNSC permanent members for summit

MOSCOW

The Kremlin invited the permanent members of the UN Security Council for a summit to address the existing global challenges, a Russian presidential spokesman said on Monday.

Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin sent invitations to the leaders of China, France, the U.K. and the U.S. on Friday, and Moscow expects Russian embassies in the relevant countries to start delivering them to their destinations as of today.

"Today, messages with details will be sent to the recipients, and starting from today, we will wait. It seems that the importance of the topic raised should probably be shared by everyone. Therefore, we expect that the answers will follow," he told reporters in Moscow.

Asked about a possible date and place, Peskov said both are negotiable but he mentioned that this year the UN will celebrate 75th anniversary of the establishment.

"This is more related to technical issues. First the consensus of all and understanding of the relevance of the problem raised by the president is important.

"The president said that it doesn't matter where, and it doesn't matter when. It is important what. That is why he first proposed the adoption of the idea. It is the five countries that should meet. And he said it could be done at any time and in any city," Peskov added.

On Jan. 15, addressing to the country's Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to hold meeting with the leaders of countries which are founding members of the UNSC, for a serious and direct discussion about the basic principles of a stable world order and the most acute problems that humanity is facing.