MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/: The Kremlin has sent messages containing proposals for a meeting of the heads of state representing the permanent members of the UN Security Council last Friday, on January 24, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that a response should be expected starting from Monday.
"They [messages with the proposal] were dispatched on Friday, by the end of the day," Peskov commented. "One may surmise that after the weekend they will begin to be conveyed by our embassies to the corresponding heads of state and government via the foreign ministries, the way it is done under the current diplomatic procedure."
A response should be expected from this moment on, Peskov added.
"The messages and other details will be delivered to the recipients. We should be waiting starting from today," he remarked again. Asked if some deadlines had been set, Peskov replied there were none and could not be any.
"Apparently, the importance of the issue raised must be shared by all. For this reason we expected that answers will follow," he indicated.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman specified that it would be too early to hold a summit of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in May. "May would be too early," Peskov said in response to a remark that the summit could be timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebration of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. "There are some other possibilities as far as the schedule of global events is concerned," he added. "However, this is a technical matter. First of all, there is a need to ensure a consensus and a common understanding that the issue the president has raised is important," Peskov emphasized.
At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman clarified that Putin’s initiative did not mean an invitation for the leaders to visit Moscow. "The president said that it wasn’t important for him where and when the meeting took place," Peskov noted. "The summit itself is important for him. This is why he first suggested that the other four countries support the idea. The five countries need to hold a meeting. He stated that it could be held anytime, anywhere," Peskov went on.
Putin, while addressing the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem on Thursday, suggested that Russia, China, the United States, France and the United Kingdom hold a summit to discuss global issues. The Russian leader pointed out that the summit could take place in a place that the leaders found convenient. Putin highlighted the importance of holding such a meeting in 2020, which marks 75 years since the end of World War II and the creation of the United Nations.
