Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution drafted by Japan on Friday calling for a one-month extension of the mandate of the international team investigating chemical weapons attacks in Syria, a day after Moscow vetoed the US plan for it while hers was also rejected.
The mandate of the joint investigation mission of the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was created following a unanimous decision of the 15-member SA in 2015, has expired. With this, Russia has now vetoed 11 times draft Security Council decisions to take action in Syria after the war broke out in the country in 2011.
The White House later strongly condemned Russia's veto of the UN Security Council resolution. In a statement, the US presidency said the Russian veto was a "clear message" that Moscow did not consider the lives of the victims or the observance of international law regarding the use of chemical weapons to be of any value. weapons.
The White House believes that Russia has vetoed "to once again protect the regime of (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) Assad and the terrorists who use chemical weapons in Syria." On Thursday, Russia vetoed a US draft resolution extending the mandate of the so-called Joint Investigation Mechanism (JIM) for another year. Shortly afterwards, the Russian proposal to extend the mandate of the UN-UN Joint Investigation Team was rejected, as it did not garner enough votes from SA member states. With this, Russia has now vetoed 11 times draft Security Council decisions to take action in Syria after the war broke out in the country in 2011.