A rare step .. Russia will boycott a meeting of the UN Security Council

 

Rashad Alkhader
New York from UN

Diplomats said, on Tuesday, that Russia will boycott, on Wednesday, a meeting of the UN Security Council with the Political and Security Committee of the European Union, in a rare move by Moscow that indicates a further deterioration in relations between it and a number of its partners in the United Nations.

A Russian diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Moscow’s decision to boycott the meeting was related to the situation in Ukraine.

A Western diplomat told AFP he did not remember Russia boycotting a UN Security Council meeting since its forces began invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.

This informal meeting is held annually between the Security Council and the Political and Security Committee of the European Union, but the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented it from taking place since 2019.

It is assumed that the Commission of the European Union and the Council of the United Nations, during a meeting, on Wednesday, the interactions between the two organizations in the countries where they have military missions, such as Bosnia, the Central African Republic and Mali.

The European Union’s Political and Security Committee is made up of ambassadors representing the 27 member states of the European Union.

After the scheduled meeting in New York, these ambassadors will head to Washington to meet with US officials, according to a diplomat.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations between Russia and countries or groups of countries in the United Nations have been deteriorating.

Russia, which remains one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, has been ousted from several UN bodies, including the Human Rights Council.

AFP