Moscow
Britain said on Friday it supported Russian President Vladimir Putin’s idea to hold a summit between the leaders of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to discuss international peace and security measures.
Britain is the last country to give its assent after Putin in January proposed that the leaders of Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain meet.
France and China have publicly voiced their approval for the summit, while a senior U.S. administration official said in February that President Donald Trump was willing to meet and discuss arms control.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Britain had expressed an interest in Putin’s idea and that the best venue for the meeting could be the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, scheduled for Sept. 15-30 in New York.
The British Embassy in Moscow confirmed Britain’s support for the encounter. “Britain on the whole supports the idea of a meeting between the heads of state of the U.N. Security Council’s permanent members, with the aim of discussing questions of international peace and security,” it said in a social media posting.— Reuters