Russia vetoes UNSC draft resolution on extending sanctions on Mali
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The United Nations Security Council was attempting to extend its sanctions regime on Mali, but Russia shot down the resolution deeming it ineffective.
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Thousands of Malians rally in Mali's capital Bamako on Jan. 14, 2021, to protest new regional economic sanctions and growing pressure from former colonizer France (AP)
Russia vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on Wednesday that would have extended the sanctions regime on Mali. The resolution, co-authored by France and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was defeated by a vote of 13-1, with China abstaining.
Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said his country vetoed the resolution because it did not take into account the views of African countries. He also pointed out the ineffectiveness of the sanctions regime.
"We would urge our [Security] Council colleagues to demonstrate wisdom and pragmatism and to support our alternative residual resolution because it takes into consideration the African countries' view," Nebenzia said.
The sanctions regime was imposed in 2017 in response to a military coup in Mali. The sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and entities the West deems as impeding the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement.
Russia has proposed an alternative draft resolution that would extend the sanctions for one last time until August 31, 2024, and disband the group of experts that monitors the implementation of the sanctions. It is unclear whether this resolution will be able to garner the necessary votes to pass.
Relations between Mali and former colonial power France have soured since a junta seized control in the West African country in 2020.
Facing anti-French sentiment, Paris last year was forced by Mali's junta to pull its troops out. The two countries suspended issuing visas to each other's citizens earlier this week.
While UNSC permanent members are seeking to sanction Mali over the coup, the Malian people have repeatedly taken to the streets of the capital, Bamako, in demonstrations in support of the Malian Armed Forces.
The demonstrators also voiced dissatisfaction with France's actions in the country, a former colony, especially after Malian troops reportedly found bodies buried near the base in the town of Gossi, which had been under the control of French forces until they handed it over to Mali.
Russia has been for years backing the African states in pursuit of breaking the shackles of imperialism, with the two parties reaffirming their intentions to strengthen security cooperation to eradicate terrorist groups in the Sahel region, as well as the food aid that Moscow has been allocating to the states in question in light of the UN sanctions prohibiting the sale of Russian grain to said nations.
