Russian Veto Regarding Syria

Syria constituted, last week, a source of great friction in the Security Council. Russia cast its veto on a resolution regarding action against Syria’s leader al-Assad following use of chemical weapons by the regime.

Last week, the UN Security Council once again met to vote on a resolution dealing with the civil war in Syria. The situation changed last week with yet another attack with chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against its population. Even American president Trump changed his administration’s stance on Syria’s al-Assad following the attack, from being unwilling to intervene in the conflict, to launching 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an army airfield outside Damascus.

The resolution put forward by the United States, the United Kingdom and France based on observations of OPCW (Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), was to punish al-Assad for breaching the resolution 2118 (from 2013) where al-Assad were to destroy all his stockpiles of chemical weapons. However, the resolution did not pass this time either. The Russian envoy to the UN argued that the resolution “failed to serve any useful purpose.” This decision attracted criticism from fellow UN members such as Ukraine.

This is the eighth time Russia has cast its veto to protect Syria’s leader al-Assad from UN action. The use of the veto and Russia’s desire to keep al-Assad in his place has paralyzed the UN from acting, and constitutes a tragedy for the Syrian people.

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[/fusion_text][fusion_text]Sources:
United Nations, April 12th 2017. ‘Security Council Fails to Adopt Resolution Condemning Chemical Weapons Use in Syria, Following Veto by Russian Federation. Available at: http://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc12791.doc.htm

Image source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlag_of_Syria.svg[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]