Russia, China veto ceasefire motion
UNITED NATIONS • Russia and China on Friday vetoed a U.s.-sponsored UN resolution supporting “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in Gaza, calling the measure ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks.
The vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the U.S. taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, whose ongoing military offensive has created a dire humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
A key issue in the vote was the unusual language that said the Security Council “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire.” The phrasing was not a straightforward “demand” or “call” to halt hostilities.
The resolution reflected a shift by the United States, which has found itself at odds with much of the world as even allies of Israel push for an unconditional end to fighting.
In previous resolutions, the U.S. has closely intertwined calls for a ceasefire with demands for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. This resolution, using wording that's open to interpretation, continued to link the two issues, but not as firmly.
Before the vote, Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate ceasefire, but he criticized the diluted language.
He accused U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-greenfield of “deliberately misleading the international community.”
“This was some kind of an empty rhetorical exercise,” Nebenzia said. “The American product is exceedingly politicized, the sole purpose of which is to help to play to the voters, to throw them a bone in the form of some kind of a mention of a ceasefire in Gaza … and to ensure the impunity of Israel, whose crimes in the draft are not even assessed.”
China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the U.S. proposal did not promote an immediate and sustained ceasefire, set preconditions and fell far short of expectations of council members and the broader international community. The U.S. has vetoed three resolutions demanding a ceasefire.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favour and three against, including Algeria, the Arab representative on the council. There was one abstention, from Guyana.
After the vote, Thomas-greenfield accused Russia and China of voting for “deeply cynical reasons,” saying they could not bring themselves to condemn Hamas's terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which the resolution would have done for the first time.