Russia may reconsider cooperation with the UN
2022.10.19 19:42
Russia may reconsider cooperation with the UN
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – If U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sends experts to Ukraine to inspect drones that Western powers claim were made in Iran and used by Moscow in violation of a U.N. resolution, Russia said on Wednesday that it will reevaluate its cooperation with Guterres.
Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy urged Guterres and his staff to “abstain from engaging in any illegitimate investigation” after a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on Moscow’s use of drones.
Otherwise, we will have to reevaluate our partnership with them, which is not in anyone’s best interest. “We don’t want to do it, but there will be no other option,” he told the media.
Polyanskiy did not go into detail.
At the request of the United States, France, and Britain, the Security Council met to discuss Russia’s use of drones in Ukraine. They claim that the drones are Iranian-made and used by Moscow in violation of a 2015 resolution supporting the Iran nuclear deal.
Russia has denied that its forces used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine, and Tehran denies providing the drones to Moscow.
After the meeting, Britain’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador James Kariuki wrote on Twitter, “Iran has obligations not to export these weapons.” Iran owes it to the United Nations to refrain from supporting Russia’s aggression war.
U.N. experts were invited to inspect some downed drones this week by Ukraine. Guterres reports to the Security Council twice a year, typically in June and December, on how the resolution from 2015 is being implemented. That report would probably include any evaluation of the drones in Ukraine.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated on Wednesday, “As a matter of policy, we are always ready to examine any information and analyze any information brought to us by Member States.”
Iran and Russia contend that Guterres should not send experts to Ukraine to examine the drones.
Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, stating that Ukraine’s invitation to U.N. experts “lacks any legal foundation” and requesting that Guterres “to prevent any misuse” of the resolution and U.N. officials regarding issues pertaining to the Ukraine war.
Nicolas de Riviere, the French ambassador to the United Nations, stated that Guterres has a “clear mandate to report on all these things and to make technical assessments, so I think the U.N. secretariat will have to go and will go” twice a year.
Iran was subject to a conventional arms embargo until October 2020 under the resolution of 2015.
However, the West and Ukraine argue that the resolution can include restrictions on the export and purchase of advanced military systems like drones and related technologies up until October 2023.
The U.N. Security Chamber can’t make any significant move over the conflict in Ukraine since Russia holds a denial on the 15-part body, alongside China, the US, France and England.
Dujarric did not respond to Polyanskiy’s comments.
In order to extend and expand the July 22 agreement that allowed Ukraine to resume exports of grain and fertilizer to the Black Sea, Guterres and senior U.N. officials are negotiating with Russia. If no agreement is reached, the agreement could end later in the month.
Because Russian exports of grain and fertilizer were being hampered, Polyanskiy stated that he was not optimistic about a renewal. Polyanskiy, however, responded to the question of whether Russian cooperation on the Black Sea grain deal might be at risk if Guterres sent experts to Ukraine to examine the drones: So far, I haven’t connected the dots.”
