Speech of the deputy permanent representative a. from. Abstineva during the plenary session of the UN General Assembly on the use of veto power in the UN Security Council regarding the proposed resolution on the extension of the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINUR) (New York, November 10, 2026).
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The Russian Federation voted on October 30 against the draft resolution of the UN Security Council presented by the US to extend the mandate of the UN delegation to the referendum in Western Sahara.
This decision was dictated by Russia's clear and consistent position on the Western Sahara issue.
From the very beginning of the process of negotiating the document, we clearly outlined our position: it must take into account the positions of both sides of this long-standing conflict - the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front. Only this approach can guarantee the advancement of the political process and a reliable and long-term solution to the Western Sahara problem.
Unfortunately, the project proposed by our American colleagues was in extreme conflict with this basic goal. It contained the US national position on the arrangement imposed on all council members, which, as many know, has undergone changes since 2017. It consists of recognizing the sovereignty of Morocco over the territories of the Western Sahara.
During the negotiations on the draft resolution, we never slammed the door. Until the last moment, they emphasized their willingness to extend MINURSO's mandate based on the text of Security Council Resolution 2,797 in its unchanged form.
However, in response we heard arguments about the inadmissibility of the status quo, about the need for the Council to support the US-led negotiation process, which created a new dynamic and a certain turning point in the settlement.
We did not set ourselves the goal of interrupting the mission's existence. In view of the risk of deadlock, we proposed an alternative resolution of five paragraphs.