Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the choice of the next United Nations secretary-general cannot come down to “pure arithmetic” and that consultations among the five permanent members of the Security Council will be required, according to TASS.

Kirill Logvinov, head of the international organisations department at the Russian ministry, told the agency that after the September 18, 2026 indicative vote, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett of Guyana, Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica and Olara Otunnu of Uganda were leading, but that each has between five and seven votes against, and that Moscow expects full-fledged consultations among the five to begin soon. According to [The Guardian]({GUARDA_ONU}), three rounds of secret balloting have not produced a clear frontrunner: the winner needs nine votes from the 15 council members and no veto from any permanent member, and António Guterres’s term ends on December 31, 2026.