MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's UN Envoy Vitaly Churkin welcomed the appointment of Antonio Guterres as the new UN Secretary-General, calling it a major success of the UN Security Council (UNSC) within the past five years.
[The selection of Guterres is] maybe the best success of the Security Council of the past five years," Churkin told reporters, as quoted by The New York Times on Monday.
Speaking about the Russia-US relations, Churkin noted that they were strained, describing the situation as "probably the worst since 1973," referring most likely to the fourth Arab-Israeli war, or the Yom Kippur War. The conflict polarized the world, putting the Cold War major powers — the United States, backing Israel, and the Soviet Union behind Arab states — to the verge of open military confrontation.
The UN General Assembly approved on Thursday Portugal’s former Prime Minister Guterres as the next UN Secretary General, who is set to assume office on January 1, 2017.