UN mission in Western Sahara faces suspension – Russia blames the US

The United States and the countries that support its position bear full responsibility for the suspension of the UN mission’s activities in Western Sahara.

TodayPress TV reports ,that this was stated in a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning the UN Security Council’s decision on holding a referendum in Western Sahara.

“We believe that full responsibility for ending the UN presence in Western Sahara, which for a long time had a stabilizing effect on the situation in the region, lies with the United States and the countries that support it.

We are disappointed that American diplomats have failed to separate their country’s national position on recognizing Western Sahara as part of Morocco from their role as the UN Security Council’s informal lead on Western Sahara and their function as an ‘impartial mediator”,- the ministry said.

According to the Russian diplomatic agency, Moscow does not support externally imposed ultimatum-based decisions on resolving the situation in Western Sahara.

At the same time, taking into account the importance of the mission’s work, Russia submitted an alternative short draft resolution to the Security Council. It proposed extending the mission’s mandate for one year without any changes and without introducing new provisions regarding the parameters for resolving the Western Sahara conflict.

“Unfortunately, only China and Somalia supported our document, while the United States opposed it and the remaining countries abstained. As a result, our proposal was not adopted”,-the statement said.

Aysel Matlab