Belarus Asserts BRICS and SCO are Not Competitors to the UN

New York (ANTARA) - Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov stated that Minsk views growing international cooperation formats, such as BRICS and the SCO, not as competitors to the United Nations (UN), but as catalysts for the reform of the organisation.

“Is our organisation keeping up with the times? No. Most likely, this organisation does not align with current realities, has failed to keep pace with changes, and has not undergone significant reform,” said Ryzhenkov during a speech at the UN General Assembly General Debate in New York on Saturday (26/9).

He noted that criticism of the UN continues to increase year after year and assessed that such criticism is justified.

“The fact that various new global international initiatives are emerging outside the system, such as the Peace Council proposed by Trump or China’s project to form an International Organisation for Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence, shows that the UN has failed to recognise various new trends,” Ryzhenkov remarked.

He highlighted the increasing development of various new cooperation formats, such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as well as other regional, economic, and political blocs.

“However, in Belarus, we view them not as competitors to the UN, but as catalysts for inevitable reform,” said Ryzhenkov.

According to him, Belarus possesses a “recipe” to return the UN to its original purpose of formation.

“The method is very simple: every country must stop using this organisation for their own selfish interests and start thinking about the fate of our planet as a whole,” Ryzhenkov explained.