Russia on Monday vetoed an extension of the mandate of the UN mission in Georgia, effectively ending its activities, citing opposition to Georgian sovereignty over the rebel enclave of Abkhazia.
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin cast his veto during a Security Council vote on a draft sponsored by Western countries that called for a two-week extension of the mandate and indirectly reaffirmed the council’s commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity.
Ten of the council’s 15 members voted in favor while four — China, Libya, Uganda and Vietnam — abstained.
With the Russian veto, the UN mission in Georgia ended at midnight on Monday. The mission has been tasked with monitoring the conflict between Georgia and the breakaway enclave of Abkhazia.
The force — 131 military observers and 20 policemen — was created in 1993 to oversee a ceasefire accord between the Georgian government and Abkhaz separatist authorities.
The draft, sponsored by Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Turkey, Britain and the US, was meant to extend the status quo for two weeks to allow more time for negotiations with Russia over the fate of the mission and a new security regime for Abkhazia.
Explaining the reason for his veto, Churkin said the text was “clearly unacceptable” as it would be “denying the existence of Abkhazia as a state.”
He said Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili “put an end to the sovereignty of his own country” over Abkhazia by sending his troops into breakway South Ossetia last August.
French UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert voiced hope that “all parties that have forces on the ground, including Russia, will exert maximum restraint, will abide by commitments” signed with the EU last year “and do what is necessary to protect the civilian population.”
Speaking before the vote, Britain’s deputy UN ambassador Philip Parham said that once the UN mission ceased to exist, the EU would have to look at how its monitoring mission on the ground in Georgia “will help ensure there is not a return to conflict.”
In February, the Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the UN mission for four months pending security arrangements in Abkhazia to be worked out by Moscow and Tbilisi.
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