World · Europe · 1 hr ago
Russia says UN must choose new secretary-general by year-end
Russia says the UN should appoint a new secretary-general by December 31, 2026.
António Guterres's term as secretary-general ends on that date.
The appointment process includes working with candidates and holding straw polls, but Russia's Foreign Ministry says the process should be completed by year-end.
Seven candidates are in the race, and none has support from all five permanent Security Council members, each of which has veto power.
If the appointment is delayed, options include temporarily extending Guterres's term or naming one of his deputies as acting secretary-general.
The first deputy would not automatically take over, and the ministry says a delay could create uncertainty about who leads the UN.
Russia says a new UN secretary-general must be appointed by December 31, 2026, to avoid uncertainty over who leads the organization.
Russian Foreign Ministry official Kirill Logvinov said the current secretary-general’s term ends on December 31.
He said options for a delay include temporarily extending the current secretary-general’s term or appointing one of his deputies as acting secretary-general.
Logvinov said the first deputy does not automatically take over when the secretary-general steps down.
- Who
- Russia, represented by Foreign Ministry official Kirill Logvinov.
- What
- Russia says the UN should appoint a new secretary-general by December 31, 2026.
- When
- Logvinov made the comments on November 12, 2026; the current secretary-general’s term ends on December 31.
- Where
- Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where Logvinov was attending bilateral consultations.
- Why
- To avoid uncertainty over who will serve as the UN’s administrative head after the current secretary-general’s term ends.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Associated Press reported that none of the seven candidates had the support of all five permanent UN Security Council members.
Kirill Logvinov said Russia was working to complete the appointment process by year-end.
The current UN secretary-general’s term is due to end.
- Deadline
- December 31, 2026
- Current secretary-general
- António Guterres
- Russian official
- Kirill Logvinov, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations
- Possible interim options
- Temporarily extend Guterres’s term or appoint one of his deputies as acting secretary-general
- Security Council permanent members
- Russia, the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom
2 sources
What people are saying
The one thing we know for certain is that the current secretary-general's term ends on December 31.
We are therefore doing everything we can to ensure that the appointment process is completed by the end of the year.
This involves working directly with the candidates and holding rounds of straw polls.