(MENAFN- UkrinForm) He made this statement to Ukrinform while commenting on calls by diplomats and politicians for fundamental changes to the UN system on the occasion of the Organization's 80th anniversary.

“The UN remains one of the most universal structures in the world, as it brings together all countries and deals with everything - from the environment and human rights to peace and security,” Matsuka said.

At the same time, he noted that the UN demonstrated its inability to act immediately after its creation, failing to prevent wars in several Middle Eastern countries involving Israel, the India-Pakistan conflict, and the Korean War.

Matsuka emphasized that“the problem is embedded in the founding of the organization in its Charter,” when the five victorious states in World War II - the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the Republic of China, and France -“declared themselves permanent members of the Security Council.”

According to the former Secretariat Chief, the Security Council“has never been able to adopt resolutions on conflicts involving permanent members,” including regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

He called the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the early 2000s the“golden age” of the UN, when“all countries were willing to find solutions to important issues.”

“But everything began to change with Putin's rise to power in Russia,” he said, recalling that the last time the Security Council passed a resolution to end a conflict was in 2011, when a no-fly zone was established over Libya.

“Moscow's position destroys and undermines the very UN system established 80 years ago,” the former official stressed.

He noted that“the United Nations remains what the five countries want it to be,” and if they do not reach agreement,“everything stays the same.”

Matsuka also pointed to excessive bureaucracy in the UN Secretariat and the existence of outdated structures, such as the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People which“do nothing” but cannot be closed due to the positions of certain states.

“The quality of change may occur, but Security Council reform will never happen. The five countries will never give up their veto powers,” Matsuka concluded.

In his view,“first a new organization must be created before trying to break the old one,” as no other form of global cooperation currently exists.

Full text of the article available here.

MENAFN28102025000193011044ID1110261223