UN reform plan accepted at summit, despite Russian obstruction

Despite Russian efforts to derail the agreement, the international community adopted a UN reform plan at the Summit of the Future in New York on Sunday.
UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang declared the United Nations Pact for the Future formally adopted - against the will of Moscow and several other states.
Russia distanced itself from the agreement, which was supposed to be adopted unanimously, with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin saying that the countries that were not satisfied with the agreement had not been given the opportunity for further negotiations.
"If our amendment is not included in the text of the pact, we will also distance ourselves from the consensus on this document," Vershinin said.
Immediately after the Russian announcement, the Democratic Republic of the Congo submitted a motion to reject Russia's move, which was accepted by a majority of 143 votes in the UN General Assembly.
On Saturday night, UN member states had prepared to counter Moscow's motion on the so-called Pact for the Future. Diplomats had already been concerned about Russia's obstructionism during the work on the Pact for the Future.
Ahead of the summit, diplomats had hoped the agreement would be adopted unanimously by all 193 states of the United Nations without a vote. Diplomats had reportedly anticipated Russia would support the painstakingly negotiated compromise, despite its threats.
The pact for the future was negotiated under the leadership of Germany and Namibia.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres had called for ambitious reforms of the United Nations and other international organizations to make the international community more capable of acting in the face of many crises and wars and to make the world a fairer place.
This pact includes declarations of intent to reform the UN Security Council and calls for an adjustment of the international financial system in favour of the so-called Global South. It also aims to lay the groundwork for the global regulation of artificial intelligence.
Despite some rays of hope, the final text falls short of Guterres' very ambitious expectations, diplomats have pointed out.