UN to vote on its scope in Afghanistan

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The Security Council votes Thursday on a resolution to secure the United Nations' presence in  Afghanistan unless Russia vetoes the measure.

The draft document proposed by Norway reshapes the global body's relations with Kabul to account for the Taliban's seizure of power last year, whose rule is still not recognized by the international world and who have yet to nominate new representatives to the UN.

According to a diplomatic source, Moscow opposed the long-debated draft of a new mandate for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Wednesday, explaining it lacked "the permission of the de facto authority," meaning the Taliban.

The language "doesn't reflect our perspective," Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told AFP, without indicating whether Moscow would veto the resolution in Thursday's 10:00 am (1400 GMT) vote.

Earlier, UN chief Antonio Guterres urged the United States and the World Bank to take action and unfreeze the Afghan funds they have been holding since the Taliban came back to power in the country bearing the brunt of the chaotic US withdrawal, nearing economic collapse as the West withholds the country's funds following an occupation that lasted 20 years.

"We must... rapidly inject liquidity into the economy and avoid a meltdown that would lead to poverty, hunger, and destitution for millions," Guterres told reporters in New York.

Washington has frozen billions of dollars of assets, with aid supplies being heavily disrupted and over half the population on the brink of famine.

An estimated 4.7 million people will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2022, 1.1 million children are children, aid agencies say.

The Taliban requested essential humanitarian relief without "political bias" in early January, stressing that recent snowfall and rains have exacerbated the suffering of Afghanistan’s people.