The UN Security Council did not support the Russian-Chinese resolution on the international investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage Monday.
The resolution was supported by 3 countries, with zero votes against and 12 nations abstained. Thus, the resolution failed to receive the nine votes required for approval. The resolution was supported by Russia, China and Brazil, with Albania, the UK, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Mozambique, the UAE, the US, France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Japan abstaining.
The resolution was also co-authored by Belarus, Venezuela, DPRK, Nicaragua, Syria and Eritrea. However, these states are not members of the Security Council and did not take part in the vote.
The UN Security Council on Monday will vote on a Russian-Chinese draft resolution on an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
The text of the draft proposed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres establish an international independent commission to conduct a comprehensive, transparent, and impartial investigation of all aspects of the act of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, including identifying the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers, and their accomplices.
A resolution must be backed by at least nine Security Council members in order to be adopted. Any of the permanent members may veto it, but only if the necessary number of votes is obtained to pass the document. If the resolution receives eight votes and the United States votes against it, it means that the veto was not used.
However, if the document receives nine or more votes, voting against it will result in the use of veto power. “It’s not about the number of votes; it’s about the way they vote,” according to Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Previously, Western countries claimed that Russia was isolated and did not have the Security Council’s support, because it opposes the UN Security Council’s initiatives on Ukraine, while the rest of the Council’s members either back it or abstain. The draft resolution was earlier co-sponsored by China. Other permanent members of the Security Council, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, are unlikely to back it and may vote against or abstain in order to avoid being accused of obstructing Security Council work. Other Western Security Council members – Albania, Malta, Switzerland, and Japan – will probably vote as heads of their bloc.
On September 27 last year, Nord Stream AG reported “unprecedented damage” that took place on three lines of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Swedish seismologists registered two explosions that occurred on September 26 near the pipeline route. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office initiated a criminal case over charges of international terrorism.