Following the latest findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms any use of chlorine as a weapon in Syria, signalling it would take “Chapter VII” action if such arms were used again in the nearly four-year-old conflict.
Despite progress on the ground following the February ceasefire, the situation in Ukraine remained fragile and far from irreversible, the Security Council heard today from three senior United Nations officials, as members called for full implementation of the Minsk agreements.
The Security Council, recognizing in the current circumstances the need for a short extension of the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), did so for a further two weeks, until 31 March.
Libya could not allow the political crisis and armed conflict that had gripped the country for much of the past year to fester, the United Nations’ senior official there told the Security Council today, stressing that unless leaders acted “quickly and decisively”, the risks to national unity and territorial integrity were imminent.
The Security Council today, determining that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their delivery means remained a threat to international peace and security, agreed to extend for 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts that assists the Sanctions Committee on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Security Council today created a system to impose sanctions on those blocking peace in South Sudan, with some members cautioning that such moves could derail Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) negotiations aimed at securing a deal by 5 March, and others expressing hope they would pressure rival leaders into ending the bloodshed that had plunged the United Nations’ newest country into civil war for more than a year.
There had been a significant reduction of hostilities in Ukraine, another release of detainees, and the beginning of the withdrawal of heavy equipment from the line of separation in accordance with the Minsk accords, senior officials of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told the Security Council today, cautioning, however, that those developments were only the beginning of a process.
The Security Council today heard strong and sustained pleas to demonstrate leadership to end the barbaric and brutal warfare in Syria, as two senior United Nations officials briefed the 15-member body on the wider consequences of a conflict that entered its fifth year.
The Security Council this afternoon extended until 15 July 2015 the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for the disputed Abyei area bordering Sudan and South Sudan.
Foreseeing little progress in upcoming peace talks on South Sudan due to continued fighting and lack of political will, the United Nations peacekeeping head this afternoon urged the Security Council to impose consequences if the parties did not immediately cease fire and make necessary compromises in negotiation.
