The large-scale influx of arms and ammunition into any armed conflict raises significant concerns for peace and security, even after the conflict has ended, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as many delegates underscored that the Russian Federation — while urging Western countries to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine — has itself violated the 15-member organ’s resolutions by procuring weapons from Pyongyang and Tehran to use in the conflict.
The Security Council again failed to adopt a resolution on outer space today — following the Russian Federation’s veto of a similar text on 24 April — with members voting in the same manner that saw the defeat of a proposed amendment to that text, which was then incorporated into the draft under present consideration.
Amid calls from Security Council members today to draw down the United Nations mission in Iraq, the senior United Nations official in that country briefed the 15-member organ on both progress and ongoing challenges at many State levels, while emphasizing it is time to “turn the page on the darker images of Iraq’s past”.
The Security Council today adopted its annual report to the General Assembly, featuring — for the first time — a dedicated chapter on the special reports on the use of the veto.
Almost twenty-nine years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement — which ended the 1992-1995 war and created two entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina — the Security Council heard today that such Agreement is the starting point for that country’s accession to the European Union, as speakers urged action to advance genuine reconciliation among Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs.
Amid Moscow’s intensified attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure — causing extensive damage to energy facilities, compromising water supply in certain areas and disrupting electricity access for millions of civilians — the delivery of humanitarian assistance is even more dangerous, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as delegates condemned this pattern of aggression and detailed their humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
In the Security Council today, the International Criminal Court presented a road map to complete its investigations into crimes committed in Libya by the end of 2025, with some delegates expressing doubt about the timeline.
While regional instability is impeding the achievement of lasting peace in Yemen, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today that the parties to the conflict, regional and international players and the 15-nation organ itself all must do their part so that the people of Yemen can realize a brighter tomorrow.
Political progress to resolve the final status of Abyei and issues related to the border between Sudan and South Sudan remains stalled since the outbreak of war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today, also spotlighting continuing intercommunal violence that caused the death of more than 60 people — including two UN peacekeepers — in January and February.
In an emergency meeting today called by the Russian Federation, the Security Council assessed the true level of tensions between the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and debated how the proposed General Assembly resolution on the Srebrenica genocide remembrance could impact that country’s reconciliation and stability. The draft resolution in question, circulated by Germany and Rwanda, would designate 11 July as the “International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica”.
