The UN Security Council has effectively become a hostage of the United States' Middle East policy, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said.
"We deeply regret the actions taken by our American counterparts. These actions do not align with the principled stance held by the majority of UN Security Council members, who, for the past six months, have effectively become hostages of the United States' influence over Middle East affairs," Nebenzya stated during a General Assembly meeting dedicated to the US veto on the UN Security Council's draft resolution regarding Palestine's full membership in the world organization.
In late April, the United States utilized its veto power within the UN Security Council to block an Algerian-drafted resolution aimed at admitting Palestine as a full member of the world organization.
In September 2011, Palestine submitted an application for full membership in the organization, which did not garner sufficient support from the UN Security Council at the time. The US had indicated its intention to veto the resolution if approved by other permanent members. Washington contends that Palestine's accession to the UN on a full-fledged basis should only occur following the achievement of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Consequently, the Palestinian authorities opted to suspend their application and maintain their status as a permanent observer within the world organization.
The process of a country's admission to UN membership involves a decision by the General Assembly based on the Security Council's recommendation. To obtain such a recommendation, nine of the fifteen Security Council members must vote in favor of the country's application, provided that none of the five permanent members (Britain, China, Russia, the United States, and France) vote against it. Subsequently, the matter is presented before the General Assembly, where the application must secure a two-thirds majority vote.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS