The United Nations Security Council on Monday rejected a draft resolution from Russia asking the secretary-general to set up an international commission to investigate the explosions at the Nord Stream pipeline.
The motion for a resolution received three votes in favour, none against and 12 abstentions, and did not receive the necessary number of votes for adoption.
Russia, China and Brazil were the countries that voted in favor of the draft resolution.
Because there is no permanent member veto, it takes nine votes to pass a draft resolution on non-procedural matters, which is why Russia failed to get the required support.
The Russian proposal — co-backed by China, Belarus, Venezuela, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria and Eritrea — entrusted United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres with establishing a commission of international experts to analyze what happened and identify those responsible. for the attack and their accomplices.
At Monday’s meeting, most countries condemned the attacks on the gas pipelines, but justified their abstention by the fact that three other investigations are already underway, namely by Germany, Sweden and Denmark, and argued that a UN investigation could be launched. conducted when the national investigations are completed.
However, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said he had “serious doubts about the objectivity and transparency of national investigations conducted by some European states” and again accused the United States of concealing the truth of the facts.
According to the Russian representative, these investigative processes could take years, which reinforces his suspicions that “the aim is not to clarify what happened, but to hide evidence and clean the crime scene”.
“I think after today’s vote the suspicion about who is behind the sabotage on the Nord Stream is clear. In the eyes of the whole world, the United States and its allies have done everything they can to ensure that no investigation. internationally about what happened”said Nebenzya.
The United States, on the other hand, rejected Russia’s “baseless accusations”.
“The United States was not involved in any way, period. (…) Let’s be clear, though: This was an attempt to discredit the work of the ongoing national investigations and undermine conclusions that do not agree with the story. predetermined by Russia. It was not an attempt to seek the truth”claimed American diplomat Robert Wood.
“It is difficult to accept Russia’s position that it seeks only an impartial and independent investigation. Let it be clear, for the record, that the first draft resolution tabled by Russia clearly concerned the United States, based on mischaracterizations of statements of northern officials .-americans”Wood added.
On the other hand, Brazil justified its vote in favor of the need for the UN to make additional efforts to clarify the attacks on gas pipelines.
“Brazil was involved in the negotiations from the beginning and tried to reach consensus. (…) Everything points to this being an act of sabotage, but we still don’t know what caused it. (…) The vote from Brazil should not be seen as a criticism of ongoing investigations or a sign of mistrust, but as a recognition of the importance of additional UN efforts.”said Ronaldo Costa Filho.
The Brazilian diplomat also asked for the conclusions of the ongoing investigations to be shared with the Security Council as soon as possible.
The attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, which were not in use at the time of the incident, took place on September 26, 2022 and caused two leaks in each: two in the Danish zone and two in the Swedish zone, all in international waters .
The ambassadors of Denmark, Sweden and Germany – countries investigating the explosions – indicated that their investigations showed that the pipelines were heavily damaged “by powerful explosions due to sabotage”.
In recent weeks, several reports in the American and German press pointed to a pro-Ukrainian group as the alleged perpetrator of the sabotage.
Kiev, for its part, has denied any responsibility for the attacks.
At the time of the sabotage, Moscow blamed the “Anglo-Saxon” countries, citing opposition to the project that Washington has maintained for years because it supposedly generates European dependence on Russian gas, while some Western countries pointed in the opposite direction. .
Source: DN
