Great Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States have the veto power of the Council.
Moscow:
Moscow’s envoys to the United Nations on Tuesday called for a Security Council vote on a resolution it drafted on the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Ukraine, where Russian forces have launched an all-out attack.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, expressed regret that France and Mexico have chosen not to submit a draft resolution on humanitarian aid to the Council, and that Moscow will put its “own draft” to the vote.
“We will submit our own design that is humanitarian,” Nebenzia said.
His deputy, Dmitry Polyanskiy, initially told AFP that Russia would ask to vote on the text on Wednesday, but a Western diplomat later said it had been postponed until Thursday, after Moscow asked for more time to “negotiate”.
Nebenzia stressed that since French President Emmanuel Macron launched the prospect of a Council resolution, Russia had said it was willing to adopt one, provided it did not contain “political” language.
Paris and Mexico City, under considerable pressure from London and Washington, planned to call in their resolutions for a “cessation of hostilities”, but that sentence would likely have led to a Russian veto.
The Russian draft expresses “the Council’s grave concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine” and amid “reports of civilian casualties, including children”.
The resolution “demands that civilians, including humanitarian personnel and those in vulnerable situations, including women and children, be fully protected.”
The text – which includes several ideas developed by France and Mexico in their motion for a resolution – would likely receive the required nine out of 15 votes to be passed unless one of the permanent members vetoed it.
Great Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States have the veto power of the Council.
Paris and Mexico City have chosen to submit their texts to the UN General Assembly, where Russia cannot veto. No date has been set for that vote.
Earlier this month, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a measure condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in late February, by 141-5 votes with 35 abstentions.
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