Nebenzya: US will never agree to move UN headquarters from New York

The United States will never agree to the transfer of the UN headquarters from New York, moreover, to implement such an idea, you need to enlist the support of two-thirds of the member countries of the organization. Such a statement did Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“To do this, you need the consent of at least two-thirds of the UN member states. Due to a number of circumstances, it is very difficult to achieve such a number of those who support the relocation of the headquarters, ”he said.

Nebenzya noted that the United States would never agree to move the UN headquarters, because for Washington “this is prestige <...>and a lot of money too.” According to him, New York receives $ 5 billion annually due to the location of the UN headquarters in the city and the residence of diplomats from 193 countries.

The diplomat noted that the issue of moving the UN headquarters was actively discussed in the second half of the 1990s. due to the failure of the United States to fulfill its obligations as the organization’s host country, including the denial of visas to country delegates and the restriction of their movement in New York. According to Nebenzi, Bonn, Geneva and others were considered as cities for moving the UN headquarters.

Russia raised the issue of moving the headquarters against the backdrop of the situation with the issuance of visas for the Russian delegation to travel to New York in April, when the Russian Federation chaired the UN Security Council. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of delaying the issuance of visas to Russian diplomats. As a result, Russian journalists from the pool of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not receive visas. Commenting on the situation, Lavrov said that Russia “will not forget or forgive this.”

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation declaredthat they would prefer to see the headquarters in a “more neutral point”, for example, in Geneva or Vienna. Lavrov also reacted positively to the idea of ​​a transfer. “I think it would be good”— said he, answering the question whether now is the right time for such a step.