Russian Veto Defeats Draft Resolution On Cyprus

RUSSIAN VETO DEFEATS SECURITY COUNCIL DRAFT RESOLUTION ON CYPRUS
New York, Apr 21 2004 8:00PM

The Russian Federation today vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council that would have terminated the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and replaced it with the UN Settlement Implementation Mission in Cyprus (UNSIMIC).

Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov said his country supports the efforts by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to settle the Cyprus problem and the planned referenda on the settlement plan, after which the Security Council should take a decision on the issue, but voiced concern about the process concerning the draft resolution, which should have been subject to more extensive discussion. Russia therefore had no choice but to exercise a "technical veto" at this stage, he said.

The last time the Russian Federation vetoed a draft in the Security Council was in 1994 on a text concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, Moscow has exercised the veto a total of 122 times.

2004-04-21 00:00:00.000

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