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Ambassador Robert Wood of the US raises his hand to vote against the ceasefire resolution at the United Nations Security Council, on November 20, 2024.
US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution
US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution
The US on Wednesday cast the lone veto to sink a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Washington said it opposed the measure because of wording that would have allowed Hamas to wait until after a ceasefire to release the roughly 100 remaining hostages that it still holds in Gaza. This is the fourth time the United States has blocked a ceasefire resolution of this kind.
The draft also called for Palestinian civilians in Gaza to be allowed to return to their homes, for the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the strip, and for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The resolution’s failure comes as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to worsen. Earlier this week, unknown armed men looted roughly 100 trucks in a humanitarian convoy, causing food prices in the already-starving enclave to soar. The UN estimates only 16% of the 1.7 million people in central and southern Gaza have received adequate food rations.
Last week a 30 day ultimatum ran out for Israel to improve humanitarian access to the Strip or risk losing some US arms transfers. Washington said Israel had done the bare minimum to satisfy its concerns.
UN Security Council: Liberia’s top diplomat joins calls for Africa’s representation
Will Africa's push for permanent representation on the UN Security Council succeed? Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti echoed the region’s calls for reform, challenging the council’s control by wealthy nations.
The UN Security Council was originally set up post-WWII when many African nations were still under colonial rule, but today they feel sidelined in global governance.
“Many African countries have had different experiences that have led many of us to believe that the current configuration for global governance on peace and security is no longer fit for purpose. The needs of countries during conflict, post-conflict for reconstruction, are not being met in line with the expectations,” Nyanti told GZERO at the SDG Media Zone during the 79th UN General Assembly in New York City. Nyanti echoed recent calls for African countries to be granted permanent seats on the Security Council. “It needs to happen,” she said, emphasizing that Africa is the source of “most of the resources of the world” and “critical to global governance.”
UN Security Council resolution calls for Gaza humanitarian pauses
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm.
How is Europe reacting to the different calls for ceasefire in the Gaza war?
The important thing, I think, was that the UN Security Council the other day managed to get a resolution adopted. It was proposed by Malta, and it calls for a multitude of ceasefires or pauses. Not necessarily a permanent ceasefire, but clearly extended periods in which humanitarian supplies can reach Gaza, and perhaps also provide the political necessary space for release, at least of some of the hostages. We'll see if first time the Security Council has managed to agree on anything in this particular conflict, if that has any effect whatsoever.
Is there risk of a serious disruption to air traffic due to volcanic eruption on Iceland?
Well, we've all learned from experience in that particular case. I remember myself being stranded in London a couple of years ago when there was that volcanic eruption. In this case, the experts who say the risks are far, far smaller or small town has been evacuated close to Reykjavik and close to the port of Keflavik. But they say that the risk of anything that would be disruption to air traffic is very small indeed, at least something good in the world today.
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Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen speaks during a meeting of the Security Council
US compared to Russia after tanking UN resolution on Gaza
The United Nations Security Council — whose one job is to respond during times of international conflict — failed to pass a nearly unanimous resolution on the Israel-Hamas war because of a US veto.
The resolution condemned Hamas’ attack and called for humanitarian access, protection of civilians in Gaza, and the release of Israeli hostages. On Wednesday, the US was the lone "no" vote, but because it is one of five nations on the council with veto power, the resolution failed.
The US vetoed it because it did not mention Israel’s right to self-defense. The stance drew accusations of hypocrisy and comparisons to Russia, which has used its veto power to paralyze the council on the war in Ukraine.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that it was too soon to issue a resolution, arguing that more facts were needed from the ground and that current diplomatic efforts, including those by President Joe Biden, should be allowed to unfold.
Representatives from both Israel and the Palestinian Authority said the council had failed them. But that’s about all the two agreed on. The PA’s foreign minister is pushing for the council to call for a cease-fire.
Meanwhile, Israel’s envoy is demanding the resignation of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who also called for a cease-fire at Tuesday's meeting. Guterres opened the debates by condemning Hamas for the brutal attacks and Israel for subjecting Palestinians “to 56 years of suffocating occupation,” noting that the Oct. 7 attack “did not happen in a vacuum.”
While rifts continue to divide and paralyze the UN Security Council, the humanitarian crisis and risk of regional escalation are accelerating.
Protest in Yerevan following Azerbaijani military operation launch in Nagorno-Karabakh.
UN Security Council debates Nagorno-Karabakh
It was a quieter day at UN headquarters on Thursday. With US President Biden back at the White House – accompanied by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky – the crowds had thinned somewhat and fewer delegates could be found attending the debate in the UN General Assembly hall.
Much of the focus was on the crisis in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where this week Azerbaijan launched a fresh assault on ethnic-Armenian separatists there, who then reportedly agreed to surrender and disarm as part of a ceasefire. Azerbaijan now looks set to take control of the enclave that's seen decades of conflict.
(For more on the recent flare up and its historical context, see our write up here.)
This was the focus of an urgent UN Security Council meeting called by the Armenian and French delegation on Thursday afternoon. Though they aren’t currently Council members, both Armenia and Azerbaijan attended the session to voice their grievances.
The focus of the Armenian representative reflected a sentiment that has been heard many times throughout the week, namely, that the UN Security Council is broken.
Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan said that the chamber had failed to respond to previous warnings from Yerevan that the Azeris had been upping their attacks on the enclave. Indeed, this came a day after President Zelensky took aim at the Security Council for falling short of its stated mission by letting Russia torpedo efforts to stop the war. (See GZERO's explainer on Instagram on this ensuing debate.)
Despite Karabakh’s acceptance of a ceasefire, shelling continues, Mirzoyan said. The US, for its part, backed this claim, with UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield telling the Council that the “situation on the ground remains dire.”
What’s on deck tomorrow?
Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu will address the Assembly, along with Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina, and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is seen on a video monitor in a booth above the United Nations Security Council floor.
Zelensky takes aim at the UN Security Council
It was another big day at the UN General Assembly. Again, much of the attention centered around Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky who attended a prickly meeting at the UN Security Council.
Ukraine, for its part, is not currently a member of the UNSC, but was invited to attend the session where, sitting across from the Russian Ambassador, Zelensky called Russia a “terrorist state.” Zelensky left the chamber before Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat down, avoiding a potential confrontation.
Still, much of the Ukrainian president’s speech was directed not at the Russian delegation but at the Security Council itself. He joined the chorus of others calling for urgent reform of the powerful body, arguing that Russia's veto power is undermining the Council's mission. “Ukrainian soldiers are doing with their blood what the UN the Security Council should do by its voting,” he said.
While President Joe Biden said this week in his address before the General Assembly that the US supports such reform efforts, it’s hard to imagine that any of the permanent members of the Council that have the veto power– the US, UK, China, Russia, and France – would be willing to dilute their own clout.
Crucially, Zelensky proposed a change to rules that would allow the UN General Assembly – composed of 193 states – to override UNSC resolutions with a two-thirds majority. But as things are currently structured, that vote itself would be subject to … a UN Security Council veto.
Continuing his shuttle-diplomacy efforts, Zelensky met with Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, where he said the two discussed the prospect of coordinating a Ukraine-Latin America summit. Boric’s embrace of Zelensky has been notably different from other Latin American states, including Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, that have in fact abstained from at least one UN resolution condemning Russian aggression.
Finally, Zelensky also met with his German counterpart Chancellor Olaf Scholz in what was broadly seen as an attempt to get Berlin to earmark more military aid for Kyiv.
Another interesting side meeting took place between Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu. It was hardly the White House meeting Bibi had been hoping for – particularly after the Biden side released a cool statement saying the two had a “candid and constructive” conversation on issues including “upholding our democratic values.” This was likely a nod to the White House’s disapproval of the Israeli government’s current attempt to gut the power of the independent judiciary that’s led to some of the biggest protests in Israel on record.
Still, in the broader realm of geopolitics it was a pretty good day for Bibi: On Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave a rare interview to FOX News where he said that Israel and Saudi were inching close to a normalization deal, a huge foreign policy priority for the Netanyahu government.
Can the US be a global leader on human rights?
Is it difficult to be a global leader on human rights when the US is facing such a challenging and divisive political environment?
GZERO World sat down with US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield at UN headquarters in New York ahead of the US taking over presidency of the Security Council for the month of August.
Ian Bremmer asked the ambassador about her priorities during the presidency, as well as how domestic issues in the United States impact her job as an international diplomat. Is it difficult to be a global leader on human rights when the US is facing such a challenging and divisive political environment?
“If we’re not talking about human rights around the world, no one else will,” Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview from the floor of the Security Council chamber, “I know that others appreciate that they can depend on the United States to be the voice of the people.”
While acknowledging the US is not perfect, Thomas-Greenfield says that when the US wasn’t sitting on the Human Rights Council during the previous administration, “people missed us, they needed us.” That gives her a clear path to make sure America’s voice is heard on things like human rights and humanitarian assistance.
“The United Nations is an important part of our history,” Thomas-Greenfield emphasized, “But it’s also an important part of our futures.”
Watch the full interview: Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Russia, Sudan & the power of diplomacy
Watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld and on US public television. Check local listings.
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Russia undermines everything the UN stands for, says Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Should Russia be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?
That’s the question Ian Bremmer asked US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on GZERO World ahead of the United States taking over the Security Council presidency for the month of August.
The UN Security Council is tasked with maintaining peace and stability around the globe. But how realistic is that mandate when one of its permanent members started a war in the middle of Europe with an unprovoked attack on its neighbor?
“Russia is not living up to what is required of a permanent member,” Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield said in an interview from the floor of the council chamber, “What they are doing undermines everything the UN stands for.”
Despite the contentious relationship, Thomas-Greenfield is the most senior official in the United States with regular, direct contact with a high-level diplomat from the Russian Federation. Thomas-Greenfield uses the relationship to continue to raise the issue of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, American citizens unlawfully detained in Russia. She also continues to call out Russia for pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal and jeopardizing the world’s food supply.
“The Russian action is evidence to the world that Russia does not care about humankind,” Thomas-Greenfield says, “Their withdrawing from the grain deal, and then attacking agricultural infrastructure in Ukraine sends a chilling message to the world.”
Watch the full interview: Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Russia, Sudan & the power of diplomacy
Watch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week on gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld and on US public television. Check local listings.
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