Moscow blocks a vote in the Security Council to renew the UN mission in Libya

The UN Security Council postponed a vote on a British draft resolution on the extension of the United Nations mission in Libya, after Russia threatened to veto the resolution.

Diplomatic sources reported that Moscow's objection was not to the renewal of the mission in particular, but rather to the language used by the draft resolution prepared by London to demand the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya, and to define the role of the UN envoy to this country.

UN sources also indicated that Russia and China want to make amendments to paragraphs in the draft resolution that talk about the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya, in addition to deleting paragraphs related to the human rights file in this Arab country.

The mandate of the UN mission ends on Wednesday evening, and the Security Council plans to vote this morning on a simple "technical extension" until the end of the month, in the hope that "the problems will be resolved" by then, according to a diplomat who asked not to be named.

In response to a question about this information, the Russian diplomatic mission to the United Nations refused to make any comment, saying only that negotiations are still ongoing.

During the last Security Council session on Libya, Moscow insisted that any withdrawal of foreign forces from this country must take place in a balanced manner so as not to cause an imbalance in the current balance of power.

Moscow militarily supports the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar, the powerful general in the east of the country, while Ankara has sent military forces to support the internationally recognized government, which is based in Tripoli.

In a recent report, the United Nations recommended ending the dual administration of its mission to Libya, which has been in place since early 2021.

This dual UN administration, which the United States forced the rest of the 14 members of the Security Council to approve, is based on the presence of an envoy in Geneva, the Slovakian Jan Kubis, and the coordinator of his headquarters in the Libyan capital, Raisdon Zeninga, who comes from Zimbabwe.

The United Nations recommended that there be one UN envoy based in Tripoli, just as it was in the past.