UN sanctions on Mali to end after Russia vetoes resolution renewal

(Patria) - United Nations sanctions on Mali will cease after Russia vetoed the renewal of a resolution targeting anyone violating or obstructing the 2015 peace agreement, hindering aid delivery, violating rights, or recruiting child soldiers, Reuters reported.

UN independent sanctions monitors told the Security Council this month that Malian troops and its foreign security partners, believed to be the Russian mercenary group Wagner, have used violence against women and other "gross human rights violations" to spread terror.

Thirteen members of the Security Council voted for the resolution, drafted by France and the United Arab Emirates, to extend UN sanctions and independent monitoring for another year. Russia vetoed it, while China abstained.

Russia then proposed extending UN sanctions on Mali for one last year instead, but immediately cut independent monitoring. It was the only country to vote for it, while Japan voted against, and the remaining 13 members abstained.

The U.S. deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told the Council that Russia wants to eliminate independent monitoring "to stifle the publication of uncomfortable truths about Wagner's actions in Mali, which demand attention".

In response, Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told Reuters that this was speculation and akin to "paranoia," adding that Russia "supports the interests of the affected country - Mali, as the Council should be doing".

The U.S. has also accused Wagner, which has around 1,000 fighters in Mali, of engineering the junta's sudden demand for the 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force to leave. The decade-old operation could end by the end of the year.

The junta, which seized power in coups in 2020 and 2021, partnered with Wagner in 2021 to fight an Islamist insurgency. The military junta wrote to the Security Council earlier this month requesting the lifting of sanctions.

The current one-year mandate for the UN sanctions regime and independent monitoring expires on Thursday. Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, made it clear that Russia would not discuss the issue further after two votes on Wednesday.

The Council established the sanctions regime on Mali in 2017, allowing it to impose travel bans and asset freezes. Currently, eight individuals are subject to UN sanctions.

Independent monitors reported to the Council twice a year on implementation and potential new designations.