MOSCOW, September 2 (HS/RIA Novosti) - NATO countries have long been trying to weaken the United Nations and turn it into an instrument under their control, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

They have a secret plan for the UN. They have had it for a long time, because first they wanted to essentially close the UN... They need the UN to become worse. They are thorough about trying to worsen it — making it less effective and subjugated. That is, turning it into an organization that cannot solve anything on its own and can only be used as a tool, Zakharova told Sputnik Radio.

Western countries are not interested in strengthening the world organization because its universal status is a challenge to them, the spokeswoman emphasized.

Western countries do not talk about the need to improve the UN. They do not even pay their contributions because they do not need it, Zakharova noted. In their view, the UN is a challenge that should be degraded from a comprehensive, universal organization to a mere tool, she argued.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar