The UN Security Council will vote on a draft resolution regarding the investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream oil field.
The draft text proposes that the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, establish an independent international commission to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
TASS - The UN Security Council will vote on Monday (27) on a Russian-Chinese draft resolution on an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 oil pipelines. The vote is scheduled for after 15:00 pm (22:00 pm Moscow time).
The draft text proposes that the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, establish an independent international commission to conduct a comprehensive, transparent, and impartial investigation into all aspects of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, including identifying the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers, and their accomplices.
Guterres is expected to appoint experts to this commission. If the resolution is approved, he must make recommendations for its establishment within 30 days. The document also encourages countries conducting their own investigations to fully cooperate with the commission and share information with it. The document urges these nations to share information with other stakeholders as well.
Russia prepared the first version of the Nord Stream resolution in late February, but did not immediately put it to a vote, instead inviting members of the Security Council to discuss the document. Three sets of consultations have been held since then.
chances of resolution
According to TASS sources within the global organization, there is no general agreement on the document suggested by Russia, which means it will probably not be adopted.
A resolution must be supported by at least nine members of the Security Council to be adopted. Any of the sitting members can veto it, but only if the necessary number of votes is obtained to approve the document. If the resolution receives eight votes and the United States votes against it, it means the veto was not used. However, if the document receives nine or more votes, voting against it will result in the use of the veto power.
"It's not about the number of votes; it's about how they vote," according to Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Previously, Western countries claimed that Russia was isolated and lacked the support of the Security Council because it opposes UN Security Council initiatives on Ukraine, while other Council members either support them or abstain.
The draft resolution was previously co-sponsored by China. Other permanent members of the Security Council, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France, are unlikely to support it and may vote against it or abstain to avoid being accused of obstructing the work of the Security Council. Other Western Security Council members—Albania, Malta, Switzerland, and Japan—will likely vote as heads of their bloc.
The positions of other non-permanent members are unclear, including Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates, and Ecuador. As a result, Western countries with veto power may not even use it to prevent the resolution from being passed.
The Security Council meeting where the vote will take place was planned last week. However, on March 26, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry revealed plans to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement about his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The time has not yet been decided; it could be on Monday.
On September 27 of last year, Nord Stream AG reported "unprecedented damage" to three lines of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Swedish seismologists recorded two explosions that occurred on September 26 near the pipeline route. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office initiated a criminal case on charges of international terrorism.
On February 8, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article that claimed, citing sources, that US Navy divers planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the cover of Exercise BALTOPS in June 2022, and that the Norwegians detonated the bombs three months later. According to the journalist, the decision to conduct the operation was made personally by US President Joe Biden after nine months of discussions with White House security experts. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a comment to TASS that Hersh's account was "completely false and utter fiction."