Upholding the UN Charter
Expected Council Action
In May, the Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on “Upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter”. The meeting will be chaired by China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to brief.
Background and Key Recent Developments
For at least the past decade, several Council members—particularly China and Russia—have chosen to convene open debates during their monthly presidencies that focus on the UN Charter or multilateralism and have been held as a signature event. Meetings organised by China in this regard have included: “Practicing Multilateralism: Reforming and Improving Global Governance” on 18 February 2025; “Upholding Multilateralism and the UN-centred International System” on 7 May 2021; “Strengthening Multilateralism and the Role of the United Nations” on 9 November 2018; and “Reflect[ing] on history [and] reaffirm[ing] the strong commitment to the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN” on 23 February 2015.
On 24 October 2025, the day the UN Charter entered into force 80 years earlier, the Security Council held an open debate at Russia’s initiative titled “The United Nations Organization: Looking into the Future” under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item (S/PV.10024 and Resumption I). Secretary-General António Guterres briefed via videoconference. A presidential statement authored by Russia was adopted during the meeting. The statement reaffirmed the Security Council’s “commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, including its purposes and principles in their entirety and an international order based on international law”, as well as to the “central role of the United Nations in international affairs and the multilateral system as a forum for constructive dialogue among its Member States”.
This month’s meeting takes place at a time of heightened uncertainty about the future of the multilateral system and ongoing mutual recriminations between the major powers about their failure to adhere to international law, including to the Charter, and the resulting adverse effects on vulnerable populations. The Security Council, the UN body entrusted with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, is more divided now than at any point in the post-Cold War era, struggling in recent years to come together to address many pressing conflicts on its agenda—for example, Haiti, Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine, among others—notwithstanding the significant time and energy it devotes to these issues. Moreover, the UN is largely sidelined in many of the diplomatic efforts to resolve the world’s major crises.
At the same time, the UN system is in the middle of a major reform initiative known as UN80, which was launched by Guterres in March 2025, and is aimed at overhauling the UN system to make it more “effective, cost-efficient and responsive to the people it serves”. The reform effort is occurring in the context of a liquidity crisis facing the UN—largely driven by member states’ failure to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time—that has forced the world body to operate in a resource-constrained environment, leading to a hiring freeze and reduced services. Funding cuts have undermined the UN’s humanitarian efforts to alleviate human suffering and have contributed to deep budget cuts across all peacekeeping missions.
In his 23 September 2025 address at the opening of the 80th General Assembly, Guterres called on member states to “choose peace rooted in international law” and said that at its best, the UN is a “guardian of international law”. In their subsequent statements to the General Assembly, several world leaders similarly emphasised the importance of upholding international law as a key pillar of the international order, referring to several conflicts in which international law is being violated.
Key Issues and Options
A key underlying issue is the lack of respect for the UN Charter that continues to be exhibited by some of the UN’s most powerful member states.
A related issue is the contrasting and selective interpretations of the UN Charter in the Security Council, which have led to deep divisions among the body’s members and continue to hinder the Council’s work.
An additional important issue for the Council is how to build trust and cooperation among its members. In the September 2024 Pact for the Future, member states committed to promoting cooperation and understanding, defusing tensions, and seeking the pacific settlement of disputes.
While it may currently be difficult for the Council to strengthen references to international law in its products, Council members could more consistently emphasise the importance of compliance with international law, including the UN Charter, in their statements in country-specific meetings, where relevant.
They could also request regular briefings on relevant legal obligations on situations where international law and the UN Charter are not being upheld.
Another option for Council members is to meet more frequently in informal contexts for frank discussions about how to revitalise under-utilised tools of the Charter related to conflict prevention and mediation. They could also use these formats to facilitate early engagement on emerging threats and broaden their discussion of possible options for Council action. In this context, members may wish to meet informally ahead of the anticipated open debate in July on the peaceful settlement of disputes requested by resolution 2788. This resolution, which was authored by Pakistan, urges member states to effectively utilise the UN Charter’s mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and judicial settlement.
The UN’s role in peacemaking is a prevailing concern of the wider membership as well. This was evident in the questions asked by member states in the General Assembly’s interactive dialogues in April with candidates running for the UN Secretary-General position (Michelle Bachelet, Rafael Grossi, Rebeca Grynspan, and Macky Sall). In the next phase of the selection process, candidates will be questioned by Council members in informal meetings. During these sessions, Council members could attempt to elicit more concrete responses to how each candidate would approach preventive diplomacy.
As Council president, China could also consider preparing a chair’s summary that highlights the key themes of the meeting and circulating it to the wider membership. This could be an opportunity to underscore any concrete ideas for bolstering adherence to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter that may be proposed at the meeting.
Council and Wider Dynamics
Council members consistently affirm their commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Nonetheless, contrasting views regarding which countries adhere to the values of the UN Charter are likely to be on display during the open debate. China and Russia have consistently emphasised respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and criticised what they view as the selective application of international law. In this regard, they have been highly critical of recent US military actions, including in Venezuela and Iran, describing them as clear violations of the UN Charter. Several Council members, in turn, continue to condemn Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine as a grave breach of the Charter.
Some Council members and the wider UN membership have raised concerns about perceived double standards and selective adherence to the UN Charter. These members would like to see enhanced efforts by the Council, and the UN system more generally, to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes.
As well, member states from different regions believe that the UN system could do a better job of integrating the three pillars of the UN Charter—peace and security, development, and human rights—in carrying out its efforts to promote the security and welfare of vulnerable populations. The Council has long emphasised that the different pillars are mutually reinforcing and interlinked in several outcomes over the years, including in resolution 2805 of 26 November 2025 on the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, which the General Assembly also adopted in a substantively identical resolution on the same day. At the same time, since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the US, in particular, has sought to go “back to basics” and focus the UN on its core peace and security mandate.
| Security Council Resolutions | |
| 26 November 2025S/RES/2805 | This resolution on the 2025 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR) underscores peacebuilding as essential to lasting peace and development, refocusing efforts from policy commitments to measurable, coordinated implementation benchmarks across the UN system and at the country level. |
| 22 July 2025S/RES/2788 | This resolution urges member states to effectively utilise the UN Charter’s mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and judicial settlement. |
| Security Council Presidential Statements | |
| 24 October 2025S/PRST/2025/7 | This presidential statement reaffirmed the Security Council’s commitment to the UN Charter. |
| Security Council Meeting Records | |
| 24 October 2025S/PV.10024 | This was the first half of an open debate convened by Russia, titled “The United Nations Organization: Looking into the Future”. |
| 24 October 2025S/PV.10024 (Resumption I) | This was the second half of an open debate convened by Russia, titled “The United Nations Organization: Looking into the Future”. |
| 18 February 2025S/PV.9861 | This was the first half of an open debate organised by China on “Practicing Multilateralism: Reforming and Improving Global Governance”. |
| 15 February 2025S/PV.9861 (Resumption I) | This was the second half of an open debate organised by China on “Practicing Multilateralism: Reforming and Improving Global Governance”. |
| 16 July 2024S/PV.9686 | This was an open debate on “Multilateral cooperation in the interest of a more just, democratic and sustainable world order”. |
| 24 April 2023S/PV.9308 | This was a ministerial-level open debate on “Effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the UN Charter”. |
| 14 December 2022S/PV.9220 | This was an open debate titled “New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism” under the agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security”. |
| 11 May 2021S/2021/456 | This letter transmitted the meeting record of the high-level videoconference briefing on “Maintenance of international peace and security: Upholding multilateralism and the United Nations-centred international system”, which was held on 7 May 2021. |
| 9 January 2020S/PV.8699 | This was a ministerial-level open debate on “Maintenance of international peace and security: upholding the UN Charter” where member states reflected on and reaffirmed their commitment to upholding Charter principles, particularly in the context of international peace and security. The list of speakers numbered 111 member states, which led to the open debate continuing over the following two days (Resumptions 1 and 2). |
| 9 November 2018S/PV.8395 | This was an open debate on the theme “Maintenance of international peace and security: strengthening multilateralism and the role of the United Nations”. |
| 23 February 2015S/PV.7389 | This was the meeting record of the open debate on the UN Charter, marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN, and to commemorate the end of World War II. |
