Russia vetoes UN resolution to extend sanctions, "monitoring" in Mali

Russia has vetoed efforts to keep a team of United Nations experts in Mali who had accused foreign fighters – a veiled reference to Russia’s Wagner mercenary force – of involvement in widespread abuses in the military-run West African country.

Thirteen of the UN Security Council’s 15 members backed a proposal on Wednesday that would have extended sanctions for one year on Mali and would have kept the experts in place.

But Russia exercised its veto power at the UN meeting to block the extension proposal led by France and the United Arab Emirates.

China abstained from the vote.

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The United Nations Security Council has not passed Russia’s draft resolution on lifting sanctions off Mali in September 2024, a TASS correspondent reported on Wednesday.

Russia voted in favor of the document, Japan was against, while other members of the UN Security Council, including China, abstained.

The draft suggested that the sanctions regime, which has been in force since September 2017, be extended for one more year, until August 31, 2024, for the last time.

Western delegations initiated their draft resolution, which also provided for a one-year extension of the sanctions, did not mention that this is the last such extension. Russia vetoes the Western draft.