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.
Noting that the ongoing political crisis and escalating violence in eastern Ukraine was a top priority for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), its newly installed Chairperson-in-Office today urged full adherence to the ceasefire between Ukraine and pro-separatist Russian forces to facilitate the withdrawal by both sides of heavy weapons and equipment from the area and other steps agreed to earlier in the month.
The Security Council this morning extended for one year sanctions on those threatening stability in Yemen, as well as the mandate of the Panel of Experts who assist the committee that oversees those measures.
As the United Nations approached its seventieth anniversary, the Charter tenet of national sovereignty remained valid, but a State’s responsibility for its people and its participation in global cooperation were also increasingly vital, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed as he opened a day-long Security Council debate this morning.
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Liu Jieyi (China):
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Liu Jieyi (China):
On 19 February 2015, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) enacted the amendments specified with underline and strikethrough in the entry below on its Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2161 (2014) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
Welcoming the significant progress made by Burundi since the adoption of the Arusha Agreement in 2000 in restoring security and stability, the Security Council today noted that challenges remained to be overcome to prevent a reversal of such improvement, especially in the context of the 2015 elections.
“Horrific and brutal” acts of terrorism in Libya had “shaken our collective conscience” and must prompt swift action in support of the political process there, said the United Nations top official in that country as he briefed the Security Council this afternoon.
Failing to rectify persistent governance and security issues in Gaza and the slow pace of reconstruction six months after the conflict with Israel had fostered an increasingly worrisome “toxic” environment, a top United Nations official told the Security Council today.
