Russia 'Not Hindering' Any of UN Top Job Candidates of Bulgaria

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov has said his country does not reject any UN Secretary General candidate outright and will bar none from running in the race.

Minister Sergey Lavrov has already met with both Both Kristalina Georgieva and Irina Bokova, TASS quotes Gatilov as saying.

"We have had contacts with all candidates in the list, they have all come to Moscow," he has added.

His statement comes amid uncertainty over whether Russia would veto the frontrunner, former Portuguese Prime Minister António Guterres (who has been first in all straw polls held by the UN Security Council so far) or Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner whom Bulgaria nominated as a late entry, replacing UNESCO head Irina Bokova. Bokova has been seen as a possible choice of Russia.