New York [US]March 28 (ANI): The UN Security Council did not support the Russian-Chinese resolution on the international investigation into Nord Stream sabotage on Monday, Russian news agency TASS reported.
The resolution was supported by 3 countries, with zero votes against and 12 countries abstaining from voting. The resolution thus did not receive the nine votes required for approval.
The resolution was supported by Russia, China and Brazil, with Albania, the United Kingdom, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Japan abstaining.
The resolution was also co-authored by Belarus, Venezuela, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria and Eritrea. However, these states are not members of the Security Council and did not participate in the vote.
The UN Security Council will vote on Monday on a Russian-Chinese draft resolution on an international investigation into sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, Russian news agency TASS reported.
The text of the proposal to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres establishes an international independent commission to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigation into all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, including the identification of perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and their accomplices.
The document encouraged countries conducting their own investigations to fully cooperate with the Commission and share information with it. The document urged these nations to share information with other interested parties as well, TASS reported.
Russia prepared the first version of the Nord Stream resolution at the end of February, but did not immediately put it to a vote, instead inviting Security Council members to discuss the document. Three sets of consultations have been held since then.
A resolution must be supported by at least nine Security Council members to be adopted. Any of the permanent members can veto, but only if the necessary number of votes is obtained to approve the document. If the resolution receives eight votes and the US votes against, it means that the veto was not used.
However, if the document receives nine or more votes, voting against it will result in the use of veto rights, TASS reported.
“It’s not about the number of votes, it’s about how they vote,” according to Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
In the past, Western countries have argued that Russia was isolated and did not have the support of the Security Council, as it opposes the UN Security Council initiative on Ukraine, while the rest of the council members either support it or abstain, TASS reported.
The draft resolution was previously co-sponsored by China. Other permanent members of the Security Council, including Britain, the United States and France, are unlikely to support it and may vote against or abstain to avoid being accused of obstructing the work of the Security Council. Other Western Security Council members – Albania, Malta, Switzerland and Japan – are likely to vote as heads of their bloc.
On March 26, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry revealed plans to call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement about his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. The timing has not yet been determined.
On September 27 last year, Nord Stream AG reported “unprecedented damage” that took place on three lines of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Swedish seismologists recorded two explosions that occurred on September 26 near the pipeline stretch, TASS reported.
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case regarding allegations of international terrorism.
On February 8, American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article, citing sources, that US Navy divers had planted explosive charges under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the guise of the BALTOPS exercise in June 2022, and Norwegians activated bombs three months later, TASS reported.
According to the journalist, the decision to carry out the operation was made by US President Joe Biden personally, after nine months of discussions with White House security specialists.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement to TASS that Hersh’s account was “completely false and complete fiction.” (ANI)
Source: sn.dk