ArmInfo.In January 2018, the Republic of Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship of the UN Security Council. The country became the first ever member of the council representing the Central Asian region.
As ArmInfo was told in the embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia, on January 2 2017, on the first working day of the country's chairmanship in the UN Security Council, a presentation of the Security Council's activity program for January was held. The diplomats noted the qualitative elaboration of the program by Kazakhstan's chairmanship. In particular, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, stressed that "knowing Kazakhstan very well as no other member of the Council", taking into account the historical factor and traditionally close relations, the Russian side "is confident in the success of the work of the Kazakh delegation as the Chairman of the Council". The Russian diplomat reported about the participation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a high-level UN Security Council briefing with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on the theme "Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: confidence-building measures" on January 18. US Ambassador Nicky Hailey and other ambassadors of the member states of the Council noted the substantial and rich program of Kazakhstan in January with a focus on pressing issues of non-proliferation through confidence-building measures and the inclusion of the ministerial-level debates on Central Asia and Afghanistan on the agenda of the Security Council. On the same day, at the initiative of Kazakhstan for the first time in the history of the United Nations, a solemn ceremony of raising the flags of the newly elected six non-permanent members of the UN Security Council - Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru and Poland - took place.
The priorities of Kazakhstan as a member of the UN Security Council in 2017-2018 are indicated in President N.Nazarbayev's political address to the UN Security Council under the title "Kazakhstan's conceptual vision of strengthening global partnership for building a safe, just and prosperous world." There are seven: I) achieving a world free of nuclear weapons; II) elimination of the threat of a global war and settlement of local conflicts; III) promoting the interests of Central Asia while strengthening regional security and cooperation; IV) countering terrorism; V) Peace and security in Africa; VI) ensuring an inextricable link between security and sustainable development; VII) adaptation of the Security Council and the entire UN system to the threats and challenges of the 21st century.
The chairmanship of the UN Security Council has a high international status because the Security Council can make decisions regarding coercive measures, economic sanctions or collective military action.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and international security, and all UN member countries are obliged to obey its decisions.
On June 28, 2016, during a vote at the UN headquarters in New York, Kazakhstan, having won 138 votes out of 193 UN member states, was elected for the first time a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018. The work of Kazakhstan in the UN Security Council began on January 1, 2017.