Russia, China veto US bid in UN for immediate Gaza truce

United Nations, March 22

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Russia and China on Friday vetoed a US-sponsored UN resolution calling for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million hungry Palestinians.

Blinken pushes for more aid

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for talks aimed at ensuring more aid flows into Gaza, amid increasingly tense relations between the two allies over the six-month-old war
• The top US diplomat’s latest visit to Israel comes at a time of strained ties between the two countries
• Blinken, on his sixth trip to West Asia, has been engaged in intense rounds of diplomacy

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favour, three against and one abstention.

Before the vote, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supports an immediate cease-fire, but he questioned the language in the resolution and accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of “misleading the international community” for “politicised” reasons.

Earlier, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she was optimistic that the new, tougher draft resolution would be approved Friday by the 15-member council.

The draft being put to a vote “determines” — which is a council order — “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire,” with no direct link to the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which was in the previous draft. Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow will not be satisfied “with anything that doesn’t call for an immediate cease-fire,” saying it’s what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing for and what “everybody” wants. He questioned the wording of the draft, asking, “What’s an imperative? I have an imperative to give you $100, but … it’s only an imperative, not $100.” “So, somebody’s fooling around, I think, (with the) international community,” the Russian envoy said. — Reuters