Security Council: No name

The Security Council decided today to renew for one year the arms embargo on Yemen, as well as the travel ban and asset freeze against those threatening peace in that country.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vassily A. Nebenzia (Russian Federation):

The Security Council, at its fourth meeting on the situation in Ukraine in the last week, called an emergency special session of the General Assembly in the next 24 hours at which the world body can decide whether to use armed force, when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Meeting today amid the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, the Security Council rejected a draft resolution intended to end the Russian Federation’s military offensive against that neighbouring State.

The international diplomacy needed to spur humanitarian and early recovery efforts will be more precarious against the new backdrop of military operations in Ukraine, the top United Nations official on Syria warned the Security Council today, as he briefed members on recent developments.

The Security Council today renewed the mandate of its committee monitoring implementation of a resolution that aims to prevent non-State actors from acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and their means of delivery, as Council members debated the technical nature of that renewal after its unanimous adoption.

A stagnant government formation process following Iraq’s largely peaceful elections last October is stalling urgently needed reforms and creating a dangerous political and security vacuum that could be exploited by Da’esh, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today.

The spokesperson of the al-Shabaab armed group has been listed by the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee on Somalia, and the related Panel of Experts has elaborated the areas on which it will focus under its mandate, renewed on 15 November 2021, the Chair of that body told members today.

The Russian Federation must call off its “special military operation” and perceived declaration of war against Ukraine, members of the Security Council demanded tonight in a heated emergency meeting, condemning contraventions of international law and the United Nations Charter, and raising alarm about the dangers of an explosive regional conflict fomenting a global humanitarian crisis not seen since the Second World War.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered at the Security Council meeting on Ukraine, in New York today: