15 World Leaders Invited to Major U.N. Summit : Diplomacy: The heads of all Security Council nations, including Bush and Yeltsin, may gather to discuss a host of pressing global problems.

Invitations have been extended for a major summit of the heads of government of the 15 Security Council members, British Ambassador David Hannay said Tuesday.

One likely topic, U.N. sources said, would be the danger of nuclear proliferation in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Administration sources said President Bush has responded enthusiastically to the idea and plans to attend.

“If they call the conference and others come, we’ll be there,” one official said.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin also likely would attend the session.

It was uncertain whether all 15 leaders from Security Council nations would travel to New York. But it appeared that, in addition to the United States and Russia, the other three permanent members of the council--France, Britain and China--would accept the invitation.

Such a meeting between heads of government in the Security Council chambers would be highly unusual for the United Nations.

While countries have often been represented by their foreign ministers, there has not been a meeting in recent memory attended by all 15 heads of Security Council governments.

Besides permitting discussion of the world’s pressing problems, such a summit would underscore the importance of the United Nations one year after the Persian Gulf War--a period in which its inspectors have taken on unprecedented new responsibilities in preventing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from rebuilding his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

A British official said that invitations have been sent to all council members by British Prime Minister John Major, whose nation holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council this month.

“The general response is that it sounds like a great idea, but we have yet to get enough firm replies to make a formal announcement,” he said.

The main problem, he added, is “getting 15 diaries together”--coordinating the schedules of the busy leaders.

In his letter to council members, Major suggested the summit be held Jan. 30, but council members indicated the meeting could come any time after Jan. 20.

Major has been sounding out the nations represented on the council for the last week, trying to find an acceptable date.

Yeltsin’s attendance would allow Security Council members to meet the Russian Federation leader and discuss concerns about control of nuclear weapons in the new Commonwealth of Independent States.

Some council members have been only partly reassured by promises that Russia would have control over the former Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal.

The threat that nuclear warheads or tactical nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist groups or nations in return for cash is troubling.

The summit also would allow Yeltsin to present Russia as one of the council’s five permanent members and provide him an opportunity to allay nuclear proliferation fears as well as underscore his commitment to disarmament.

Russia, with the cooperation of the United States, Britain and France, assumed the Soviet Union’s membership on the Security Council without debate.

Japan is now serving as a non-permanent member of the council, and some Japanese officials believe Tokyo should be given a permanent seat because of its world prominence.

In addition to Japan, serving rotating terms on the council are Austria, Belgium, Cape Verde, Ecuador, Hungary, India, Morocco, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

The summit would also allow the leaders to get acquainted with new Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who succeeded Javier Perez de Cuellar as head of the world organization.

A Security Council summit certainly would heighten the United Nations’ profile as it undertakes expanded peacekeeping operations around the world that may require new financing arrangements and new structures.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee recalled that French President Francois Mitterrand had proposed a summit last year to better define the United Nations’ role in a changing world.

But there was reluctance on the part of U.S. State Department officials to such a meeting while Cuba was a council member.

The prospect of President Bush in the same room with Fidel Castro was unappealing.

But Cuba is no longer a Security Council member, and new nations have taken their seats at the council’s horseshoe-shaped table for two-year terms.