Russia says UN Security Council unable to fulfill its mandate due to US opposition

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said on Thursday that the UN Security Council (UNSC) is unable to fulfill its mandate due to opposition from the US.

“It is with growing concern that we have to admit that the UN Security Council, as the main body for maintaining international peace and security, is still unable to fulfill its direct mandate. The reason for this is US opposition,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It added that due to Washington’s efforts, the UNSC’s adopted resolutions, 2712 and 2720, don’t contain “the key requirement for an immediate and widespread ceasefire” in Gaza, and that they are consequently “doomed” to “remain on paper.”

“Meanwhile, bloodshed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone risks escalating into a crisis of regional proportions, with violence escalating in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and the Red Sea,” the ministry added.

It said there is a threat of mass resettlement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Russia said it continues to make efforts, primarily in the Security Council and the UN General Assembly, to urgently establish a “sustainable ceasefire, establish unimpeded humanitarian access and restore the political horizon on a bistate basis in the process of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.”

“The Russian side proceeds from the fact that the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, including the taking of hostages, deserves every condemnation, but it cannot and should not be used as a justification for the collective punishment by Israel as the occupying power of millions of Palestinians in the occupied territory in violation norms and principles of international humanitarian law,” the ministry said.

In December, the US vetoed a UN resolution by almost all other Security Council members and dozens of other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks in just three months has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians and left the territory in ruins.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​