Foreign Ministry announced the termination of sanctions against Mali after Russia’s veto

The sanctions against Mali ceased to operate, as Russia voted against the extension of restrictions, and the compromise proposed by Moscow was not supported by other countries. About it reported Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The diplomat explained that the Russian Federation did not support the draft resolution of France and the UAE on the indefinite extension of sanctions, since it did not take into account Mali’s demand to completely lift restrictions.

“We, in turn, showed a constructive approach and proposed an alternative text fixing the final lifting of restrictions in a year. However, he did not receive the support of the members of the UN Security Council. Thus, the international sanctions against Mali have ceased to operate,” Zakharova added.

She drew attention to the fact that earlier the sanctions regime was extended at the request of the government in Bamako “as a kind of insurance” for the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement. The republic asked to remove the restrictions, since there are no more clashes between the parties to the Algiers Agreement.

Zakharova stressed that Russia will continue to be attentive to the position of African countries when considering issues in the UN Security Council related to sanctions.

August 30 Russia during the meeting of the UN Security Council imposed veto on a draft resolution by France and the United Arab Emirates, which proposed the extension of sanctions against Mali. As an alternative, Moscow proposed another draft resolution. Russia proposed extending the sanctions against the republic for the last time until September 2024 and disbanding the group of experts monitoring their implementation.

Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that if the resolution is rejected, “there will be no return to the discussion of a new project.” As a result, the project did not receive the required number of votes. Russia voted for the resolution, Japan voted against. The rest of the countries abstained.

Sanctions on Mali expire August 31, 2023. Restrictions have been in place since 2017. They include an asset freeze and a travel ban on those who, according to the panel of experts of the UN Security Council sanctions committee, pose a “threat to peace, security and stability » countries and hinders the implementation of the 2015 peace agreement.