US and Russia veto rival Western Sahara peacekeeping resolutions

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has entered a state of limbo after Russia and the United States vetoed each other's draft resolutions to extend the mandate just one day before it expired. The MINURSO mission, established in 1991, has overseen a ceasefire and settlement plan between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front for over three decades.

The US proposed a resolution to extend the mandate for one year while adopting Morocco's autonomy plan as the sole basis for negotiations and reducing the military component. Russia vetoed the draft, calling it a unilateral approach, while the US subsequently blocked a Russian proposal to renew the mission under its existing terms.

Morocco's royal palace welcomed the failure to renew the mission, stating it should mark the end of Security Council involvement in the dispute. The Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, thanked Russia for blocking the US resolution, arguing it would have undermined the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination.

Read the full story at dw.com.