PRESS: Putin may speak at UN General Assembly in September

MOSCOW, Mar 31 (PRIME) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin may deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly in September in New York, business daily Kommersant reported Tuesday quoting presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

“The final decision has not been made yet. Attending the UN General Assembly is one of the options under consideration and it is not important whether the session is an anniversary or not,” the business daily quoted him as saying.

The visit to New York may be finally confirmed only at the beginning of August, sources told Kommersant. “Everything will depend on the international situation,” one of the sources said.

In the last six years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has visited sessions of the UN General Assembly. In 2009, then President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev made a speech at the session. The last time Putin visited the Assembly was in 2005.

Last year, the Russian delegation was criticized during the General Assembly’s session for the country’s role in the Ukrainian crisis. The country’s opponents led by France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius tried to restrict Moscow’s right of veto at the U.N. Security Council. This year, France and its partners want to restrict all the council members’ veto rights over issues with humanitarian crises and crimes against humanity, the business daily said.

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