In a statement released on Sunday, Russian diplomacy blamed the United States for the end of the UN mission in the Moroccan Sahara known as the MINURSO.
The commentary omits any mention of Russia’s veto that blocked the only resolution capable of extending the mission and pushing forward the peace process on the basis of the autonomy plan.
The statement, issued by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and published on the ministry’s official website, consists of two short paragraphs that single out one culprit: the US.
The Russian narrative omits that Moscow ended the mission by opposing its veto while its counter resolution was defeated by 11 abstentions, 1 vote against and only three votes in favour, failing to get the required 9 votes.
The single vote that prevented the adoption of a one-year extension was therefore Moscow’s.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that 1 November marked the start of MINURSO’s liquidation period.
However, the Russian spokeswoman was speaking as if the outcome remained open, Russian diplomacy avoided explaining how that outcome occurred.
The search for a scapegoat began the evening of the vote. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Washington of the “political murder” of the mission. A murder that was rather a result of the Russian veto.
