U.S.-Russian Tensions Threaten to Impede UN Security Council
- Divisions may hurt ceasefire in Yemen, North Korean sanctions
- New UN chief Guterres will inherit divided council in January
Rescuers gather at site of air strike in the rebel held neighborhood of Al-Shaar in Aleppo on Sept. 27, 2016.
Photographer: Karam Al-Masri/AFP via Getty ImagesRising tensions between Moscow and Washington over the civil war in Syria, interventions in Ukraine and election-year accusations of hacking in the U.S. are spilling over into a increasingly divided United Nations Security Council, threatening to paralyze initiatives from North Korea to Africa.
The latest signal of UN dysfunction came Oct. 8, when Western diplomats fumed over Russia’s veto of a French-drafted resolution that would have demanded an end to air strikes and military flights over the Syrian city of Aleppo, where more than 250,000 people are trapped. Russia is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts to retake the city.