The United States announced Thursday it favoured adding at least two permanent members to the UN Security Council, including Japan, and said it would propose specific criteria for candidates. Washington also made clear its opposition to giving veto powers to newcomers, saying the privilege should be reserved for the current five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
"We will likely support adding two or so permanent members to the Security Council," Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters, stressing that Japan was one of its prospective nominees.
Burns did not name the other countries the United States would back for admission into the Security Council.
Japan - together with India, Brazil and Germany, nicknamed the Group of Four - is lobbying for a permanent Security Council seat, and the quartet has circulated a revised draft proposal that would expand the body from 15 to 25 members.
The United States wanted a "modest" expansion of the council, and the proposal by the Group of Four is "not very digestible," Burns said.