UNSC Rejects Russian Resolution On Nord Stream

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday rejected the Russian-Chinese resolution for the creation of a commission to investigate the Nord Stream explosions.

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The resolution fell short of the nine votes needed for passage as it had the support of 3 countries, zero votes against, and 12 abstentions. 

Support came from Russia, China, and Brazil. Albania, UK, Gabon, Ghana, Malta, Mozambique, United Arab Emirates, U.S., France, Switzerland, Ecuador, and Japan abstained. 

In relation to the Nord Steam pipeline explosions in September last year, Russia's envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that "within these investigations, an attempt is being made not to clarify what happened with acts of sabotage, but to hide evidence and clean up the scene of the crime."

According to the Russian diplomat, the pipeline sabotage strongly marked the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

"The investigations being conducted at the national level by Sweden, Denmark and Germany do not meet the requirement of an objective investigation, as they simply exclude one of the countries that suffered the most," Nebenzya said.

In this regard, he said that the U.S. is trying to divert attention to Ukraine while the Russian-Chinese resolution "does not contain a single reference to a single country. It only calls for an independent investigation."

Had the draft been approved, UN Secretary-General António Guterres would have led investigations into the pipeline sabotage reported on September 26, 2022.

To date, the events had not been clarified, and Western media recently pointed to a "pro-Ukrainian group" as responsible for the sabotage.

Russia has strongly rejected such claims, which followed a report by U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh claiming that the explosion had been organized by U.S. services and that President Joe Biden was aware of the situation.