UN headquarters building in New York City (UN)

The head of the Russian foreign ministry's international organizations department Pyotr Ilyichev told Sputnik that Russia believes that it is necessary to relocate the UN headquarters from New York to a neutral country in order to depoliticize the organization's work.

"We welcome the idea of moving the UN headquarters to a neutral state. Such a step would make it possible to remove unnecessary tension from the complex process of searching for collective answers to the global challenges of our time. In addition, our work would become much less politicized than it is now," Ilyichev said.

According to the June 26, 1947, agreement between the United Nations and the US government on the location of the UN headquarters, the seat of the organization may only be transferred from the headquarters area, which is New York, by the organization's decision, the diplomat recalled.

"Its adoption requires the consent of all or at least the majority of the UN member states, whose mobilization is currently unrealistic, in particular, due to the significant financial costs of such a step. The fact that the capital reconstruction of the secretariat building was completed in 2014 ... is not in favor of the initiative as well," Ilyichev stressed.

Last week, Russian diplomats expelled by Washington from the United Nations for alleged espionage left New York with their families.

In the same context, Stephane Dujarric, the UN Secretary General spokesman, also stated that the US had decided to expel a Russian employee of the UN Secretariat.