MOSCOW, September 30 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Russia is fighting to ensure that the United Nations survives and is not merely nominal but able to respond to modern challenges and solve pressing problems, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

We are fighting to ensure that this organization survives – and survives not as a nominal body, not so that international officials can be fed there… but so that it can respond to the challenges of our time, solve pressing problems, Zakharova told Sputnik Radio.

One of the most striking examples of why the UN is needed is maritime piracy, Zakharova said, adding that if international law were abolished, the world would be pushed into an abyss of archaism that should have remained in novels and feature films.

The UN General Assembly podium is available almost daily, and if it did not exist, dozens of countries would have no opportunity at all to state their position, the spokeswoman said.

That is why we are fighting for this organization, Zakharova added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took part in the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Lavrov spoke at a UN Security Council meeting on September 23 and at the General Assembly's general debate on September 26. In total, the Russian foreign minister held about 50 meetings in three incomplete days.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar