Russia vetos US-drafted resolution on Western Sahara
What happened
Russia vetoed a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on Western Sahara on Friday, and the US then blocked a rival Russian text, leaving the UN peacekeeping mission without a renewed mandate.
The mission, MINURSO, was set up in 1991 to oversee a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, and its mandate expires on October 31.
The US draft would have extended the mission for a year, made Morocco's autonomy plan the only basis for talks and cut the military component.
It would also have renamed the mission MINUSO, dropping the 'R' for referendum; 11 of 15 council members voted for it and three abstained, DW reported.
Russia's draft would have renewed the mandate for another year on the same terms, but the US vetoed it.
Morocco's royal palace welcomed the outcome and said it should end the Security Council's involvement and remove the issue from its agenda.
“The Security Council must not give a blessing to such a one-sided approach. Therefore, we were compelled to block the adoption of the draft.”
Middle East Eye
Summary written by AI from 2 independent sources (DW, Middle East Eye) and checked automatically against them for copied text and numbers that are not in the sources. How we work
Open on the live globe →Who reported it
- 2026-10-30 21:07 UTCArab News · arabnews.com ↗
- 2026-10-31 04:24 UTCDW · dw.com ↗
- 2026-10-31 09:35 UTCAl Jazeera · aljazeera.com ↗
- 2026-10-31 11:51 UTCMiddle East Eye · middleeasteye.net ↗