Russia’s Draft Resolution on Renewal of JIM Mandate in Syria Fails to Be Adopted

UNITED NATIONS- The Russian draft resolution to renew the mandate of UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) for Investigating use of chemical weapons in Syria, put to vote by Bolivia at the UN Security Council on Thursday evening, did not obtain the required number of votes, Italian Ambassador to the United Nations Sebastiano Cardi said, according to Sputnik.

Russia put its draft resolution on the UN-OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) back to vote upon Bolivia’s suggestion.

“The result of the voting is as follows: 4 votes in favor, 7 votes against, 4 abstentions, the draft resolution has not been adopted having failed to obtain the required number of votes,” Sebastiano Cardi, who currently presides with the UN Security Council, said on Thursday.

 Russia, China, Bolivia and Kazakhstan voted in favor of the draft resolution, while Japan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Senegal abstained from vote. The United Kingdom, United States, France and the rest of the UN Security Council members voted against the draft resolution.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said on Thursday that the real goal of the US draft resolution to extend JIM was to undermine Russia’s credibility as a mediator in Syria’s political settlement.

“The UK Ambassador said Russia has no place in the political process in Syria. Here it is. That is the real aim of the this dirty plot — to cast doubt on Russia’s role in the Syrian political settlement,” he told the UN Security Council.

Russia Blocks US draft on JIM’s mandate extension

Earlier in the day, Russia vetoed a US draft resolution on extending the mandate of the UN OPCW Joint Investigation Mechanism (JIM) for investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Bolivia voted against the draft while Egypt and China abstained.

Before the start of voting, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya announced that the Russian side would withdraw its draft resolution on the same issue because the Security Council had refused to satisfy Moscow’s request to consider the US draft first.

“I would like to make a proposal to withdraw the draft resolution that Russia has submitted,” Nebenzia told the UN Security Council.

Last month, Russia blocked a similar draft resolution.

The JIM’s mandate expires on November 17.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the US draft of the UN Security Council’s resolution on prolonging the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria is unacceptable and it has no chances of being adopted.

“They are trying to convince us that the mechanism is working in a right way, and this is full disrespect of our experts’ intellectual skills. We have distributed all our detailed questions and analysis and they are available to the public,” Lavrov said.

Hamda Mustafa