The UN Security Council meeting was suspended for additional consultations. Competing draft resolutions from Russia and Brazil were to be put to the vote, DW reports.
The UN Security Council in New York on the evening of Monday, October 16, rejected a draft resolution submitted by Russia on de-escalating the conflict in the Middle East. Before the vote, for which two competing projects from the Russian Federation and Brazil were to be presented, the meeting was interrupted: at the request of the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates, 15 Security Council members retired for additional consultations behind closed doors.
The draft proposed by the Russian Federation called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” and the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, but did not directly condemn the attack on Israel by the Hamas group, recognized as terrorist in the EU, the United States and a number of other countries. The vote on the draft resolution from Brazil, which currently chairs the UN Security Council, has been postponed to the evening of October 17 (18.00 New York time, 2.00 am October 18 Yerevan time).
The Russian draft resolution received the support of only five of the 15 Council members; the minimum required for adoption of the resolution is nine votes, in addition, it is necessary that no one vetoes it. According to the DPA agency, after consultations, Brazil made changes to its text, as requested by the UK, France and the UAE. However, the adoption of the Brazilian project is also in question.
According to information from diplomatic circles, the document proposed by the Russian Federation contained a “strong condemnation” of any violence and military actions directed against the civilian population, as well as all “acts of terrorism,” but it did not mention Hamas.
In turn, the Brazilian draft resolution calls for a "humanitarian pause", condemns violence, military action against civilians and acts of terrorism, but also condemns the "heinous terrorist attacks of Hamas." At the same time, the Brazilian proposal calls on Israel, which is not explicitly named, to lift its demand for the evacuation of civilians from the northern Gaza Strip.
Last weekend, October 7 and 8, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, convened after a large-scale Hamas attack on Israel, ended without an unequivocal condemnation of the actions of Palestinian militants. Later, on October 13, the Security Council held a second meeting behind closed doors, but was unable to develop a unified approach.
