UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (PNA/Itar-Tass) -- The Russian delegation will preside over the United Nations Security Council in May. Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin will replace the Mexican ambassador to the U.N. Claude Eller on Friday in the post of chairman.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to hold an open discussion on the situation in the Middle East early in May. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will preside over that conference. He will stay on an official visit in the United States since May 6.
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko told a briefing in Moscow that Sergei Lavrov will meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the leadership of the U.S. Congress on may 6-8, 2009. He will also deliver a speech at the Carnegie Foundation.
"In New York Lavrov will participate in a special session of the U.N. Security Council on the Middle East and in the 'quartet' of international brokers," Nesterenko went on to say.
The U.N. Security Council has 15 members, five of which are permanent - Great Britain, China, Russia, France and the United States. Each of them has a right of veto. The U.N. Security Council is renovated by half, except for the Permanent Members, every year.
The United Nations Security Council is the main U.N. body responsible for the maintenance of peace and international security according to the Charter.
The U.N. Security Council resolutions are mandatory for all U.N. members and refusal to implement them may incur forcible measures including the use of force.