Russia Vetoes U.S. Western Sahara Resolution, UN Mission Set to Expire in October
Russia blocked a U.S.-backed Security Council text on Western Sahara. Washington calls the veto a setback in a conflict that has lasted 50 years.
Key points
- Russia vetoed the U.S.-drafted Western Sahara resolution.
- The other 11 Security Council members supported it, according to Washington.
- The UN mission's mandate will expire on October 31.
- The U.S. draft proposed extending the mission by 12 months.
The UN Security Council did not pass a resolution on Western Sahara because Russia used its veto. According to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, the other 11 Council members supported the text, which aimed to move toward ending a 50-year conflict in the region.
The U.S. Draft proposed extending the UN mission in Western Sahara for 12 months. It also backed the Personal Envoy, de Mistura, and the political process, and called on UNHCR to register refugees in the Tindouf camps, who have waited decades for a lasting solution.
As a result of the veto, the mission's mandate will expire on October 31. Waltz said the Council did not support the alternative text Russia put forward and did not want to step back from the progress represented by Resolution 2797.
Waltz also said the United States is ready to work with the UN Secretary-General on an orderly drawdown of the mission that protects UN personnel. He also cited the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who described conditions in the camps as "untenable, unsustainable, and genuinely, truly inhumane."
Waltz said the United States will keep negotiating with the parties involved to reach a lasting peace.