🇺🇳 On 24 October 1945, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force. The date is celebrated as United Nations Day. In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the leaders of the three Allied Powers – Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill – agreed to convene the San Francisco Conference, where 50 countries signed the UN Charter on 26 June 1945. The establishment of the UN marked the beginning of a new era in human history. It was a natural consequence of World War II and reflected the international community’s determination to prevent such bloodshed from ever happening again and to resolve conflicts through consensus and compromise. #OurRulesTheUNCharter: Russia consistently advocates strengthening the central and coordinating role of the UN in world affairs. Strict adherence to the letter and spirit of the Charter is essential to building a more peaceful, prosperous, genuinely just and equitable world order. 🎙 From the address by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the XVI BRICS Summit in the Outreach/BRICS Plus format (24 October 2024): The principles of the [UN Charter] <...> form the foundation of interstate relations and international law. The United Nations is called upon to continue playing a central role in maintaining peace and security and promoting sustainable and steady growth. The founding fathers of the United Nations envisioned it as a centre for harmonising the actions of nations. 👉 The role of the UN in the modern world was aptly described by Vitaly Churkin, an outstanding Russian diplomat who served as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN from 2006 to 2017, in his remarks: The UN has demonstrated its ability to adapt to the transformation of the international system. At this time of turbulence in world affairs, it is important to preserve the Organisation’s authority, which rests on an enduring and truly democratic principle of functioning – the sovereign equality of all states, with no distinction between those who lead and those who follow. Yet today, the Organisation is experiencing a deep systemic crisis, exacerbated by the increasing politicisation of the Secretariat’s work. Russia’s position as regards the future of the UN and possible reforms was outlined by Sergey Lavrov in his address to the General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (New York, 26 September 2026): Our principled position is that reform of the Security Council must not entail allocating any additional seats to Western countries, especially Germany and Japan, which have embarked on a path of militarisation and revanchism. We exclusively support increasing the representation of Asia, Africa and Latin America. We support Brazil and India as candidates for permanent seats, while simultaneously – and I wish to emphasise this – ensuring that the interests of the African continent are met, in accordance with the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. ❗️ We will continue to make every effort to fully restore the UN’s authority and standing.