[ad_1]
The United States has blocked a vote on a UN security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization.
The security council has been discussing for more than six weeks about the resolution, which was intended to demonstrate global support for the call for a ceasefire by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The main source of the delay was the United States’ refusal to endorse a resolution that called for supporting WHO operations during the coronavirus pandemic.
Donald Trump blamed WHO for the pandemic, claiming (without any supporting evidence) that he withheld information in the early days of the outbreak.
China insisted that the resolution should include mention and endorsement by WHO.
On Thursday night, French diplomats thought they had devised a compromise in which the resolution would mention the UN’s “specialized health agencies” (an indirect reference, if clear, to WHO).
The Russian mission said it wanted a clause requiring the lifting of sanctions that affected the delivery of medical supplies, a reference to US punitive measures imposed on Iran and Venezuela. However, most security council diplomats believed that Moscow would withdraw the objection or abstain on a vote rather than risk isolation as the sole veto in the ceasefire resolution.
On Thursday night, the compromise resolution seemed to have the support of the US mission, but on Friday morning, that position changed and the United States “broke the silence” on the resolution, raising objections to the phrase “agencies health care “and blocking movement towards a vote.
“We understood that there was an agreement on this, but it seems that they changed their minds,” said a diplomat from the Western Security Council.
“Obviously they have changed their minds within the US system so that the wording is still not good enough for them,” said another diplomat close to the discussions. “It may be that they just need a little more time to figure it out between themselves, or it may be that someone very tall has made a decision that they don’t want it and therefore it won’t happen.” It is unclear at this time, what it is. ”
A spokesperson for the US mission to the UN suggested that if the resolution mentioned WHO’s work, it would have to include critical language on how China and WHO have handled the pandemic.
“In our view, the council should proceed with a resolution limited to support for a ceasefire, or an expanded resolution that fully addresses the need for a renewed commitment by Member States to transparency and accountability in the context of Covid-19. Transparency and reliable data are essential to help the world combat this ongoing and next pandemic, ”said the spokesman.
While the strength of the resolution would be primarily symbolic, it would have been symbolism at a crucial moment. Since Guterres called for a global ceasefire, armed factions in more than a dozen countries have observed a temporary truce. However, the absence of a resolution by the world’s most powerful nations undermines the secretary-general’s influence in his efforts to maintain those fragile ceasefires.
The talks will continue next week at the security council to explore whether any other way can be found to avoid the impasse.
