New Zealand's foreign minister has criticised the United Nations (UN) Security Council over what he calls its failure to deal with many of the serious security issues confronting the world.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
New Zealand is in a group with Turkey and Spain vying for two seats on the council next year, and will find out on Thursday whether it has been successful.
But Murray McCully told The Wall Street Journal the body has been unable to deal with most of the major security problems around the world, with paralysis prevailing in many situations.
Mr McCully said the situation in Iraq and Syria with the Islamic State cries out for UN Security Council attention.
He also criticised the council for essentially standing by while Russia undermined the integrity of Ukraine.