Kremlin Asserts UNSC Permanent 5 Summit Has To Be Visionary, and Hence Summit Must Be Live

April 14, 2020 (EIRNS)—The Kremlin has made it clear that President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a summit of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council is a “visionary” one, and therefore, a video summit is not appropriate in this case. “The meeting was initiated by the [Russian] President as a visionary meeting and, naturally, the video conference format that is widely used now for crisis management does not possibly create the necessary atmosphere for such a visionary conversation, even more so for the heads of five members of the Security Council,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reported TASS yesterday. Peskov was referring to the proposal that President Putin made in his nationally televised address to the Federal Assembly on Jan. 15, and again at Yad Vashem in Israel on Jan. 23, saying: “I think an example could and should be set by the founding countries of the United Nations, the five powers that bear special responsibility for the preservation of civilization.”

Peskov also said that the issue was not raised during the recent three phone calls between Putin and President Donald Trump, nor have there been any new developments on the issue. He further said that the issue of extending the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty “also was not raised.”

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov likewise told media during an online interview today: “We are talking about a summit that would be held in person, physically uniting the leaders of five permanent members of the UN Security Council,” Lavrov stressed, and confirming that UNSC permanent members agree. “As for a video conference, we do not rule it out, however, it should not replace the main summit. It can be held if the heads of state find it necessary to consult each other, namely regarding the immediate additional steps on combatting the coronavirus,” Lavrov explained.

Peskov also said that the recent calls between Trump and Putin could not be interpreted as a sign that relations between the two powers are undergoing a thaw. “Can this situation be projected onto the general background of bilateral Russian-U.S. relations? Such a conclusion is improbable today,” he told reporters.

Nonetheless, Peskov did assert that Putin and Trump “have been having quite constructive contacts for a long time. At this point, an absolute, so to say, convergence of the two countries’ interests to pool efforts to stabilize the oil markets, obviously, dictates the necessity of more frequent contacts.”

“The presidents have long, frank, constructive and efficient contacts,” Peskov observed. “And you see the result—the [OPEC+ oil production cuts] deal has been finalized and formalized.”