United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon today expressed hope Russia would support him for a potential second term in the top UN post.
"I'd like to really count on your strong support, leadership and guidance in continuing my work as secretary general," Mr Ban told Dmitry Medvedev at the start of a meeting at the Russian president's residence outside Moscow.
Diplomats say the United States and other key Security Council members have given preliminary pledges of support for a second five-year term for Mr Ban.
Mr Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, has not publicly declared his candidacy for the election, which is expected in the coming months. But diplomats say he has made his intentions to seek re-election clear in private.
Officially, the secretary general is elected by the 192-nation UN General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.
In reality, however, it is the five permanent veto-wielding council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - who decide who gets the top job.
The decision by the five is then rubber-stamped by the full 15-nation council and the assembly, diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who was also in the meeting, said Russia would continue "trusting, close working contacts with the secretary-general," but also clarified Russia's concerns regarding U.N. mandated use of force.
"We have discussed ... the necessity to observe the mandates of the UN, especially in the situations linked to the use of force, and [to ensure] a more precise phrasing of these mandates," he said.
Russia has voiced worries UN member states are overstretching the bounds of the world body's mandates by taking an increasingly assertive approach in international conflicts, including in Ivory Coast and Libya.
Moscow, which has always emphasised the UN security council should be the arbiter of global issues, abstained from voting on the resolution that authorised the use of military force in Libya.
Prime minister Vladimir Putin, Russia's paramount leader, likened the UN resolution on Libya to a 'medieval' call for crusades.