US says it cannot change ‘five permanent members’ of UN Security Council but can add new members

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday that Washington cannot change the “five permanent members” of the UN Security Council but can add “additional permanent members.”

Speaking at an oversight hearing at the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, Thomas-Greenfield said she launched a discussion at the Security Council in September during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly and noted US President Joe Biden’s call for reform.

“We have to make this Council more inclusive and more representative,” she said.

But she stressed that the “permanent five” was built into the UN charter, adding: “I can't change that.”

“But we can change, and add additional permanent members, as well as additional elected members of the council,” she said.

She said she has been engaged with countries in all regions in the last few months with the “idea of moving forward on some kind of reform that allows us to bring new countries into the Security Council.”

“Japan currently is an elected member. India was elected member for the past two years and both of them have expressed desires to be permanent members,” she said.

The efficacy of the UN Security Council (UNSC) has been questioned, especially after the Russian war against Ukraine. Russia, one of the five permanent members of the UNSC, is accused of using its veto power to block resolutions related to Ukraine.

Other permanent members of the UNSC are the US, UK, France and China.

During the General Assembly in September, Biden, among other leaders, brought up the issue, calling for an expansion of the Council’s membership, saying permanent seats should be granted to nations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been calling for a restructuring of the UN’s top decision-making body with his mantra: “The world is bigger than five.”