S/2020/700 Security Council

In accordance with the procedure agreed upon by the members of the Security Council in the light of the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as set out in the letter dated 27 March 2020 from the President of the Security Council addressed to all members of the Council (S/2020/253), I would like to draw your attention to the following: The members of the Council have considered a draft resolution, submitted by Belgium and Germany, in connection with the agenda item “The situation in the Middle East”. That draft resolution, contained in document S/2020/684 and enclosed herewith, has been put into blue (see enclosure I). In that connection, I draw your attention to the attached letter from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation (S/2020/691), proposing an amendment to the draft resolution contained in document S/2020/684 (see enclosure II). Rule 33 of the Security Council’s provisional rules of procedure indicates, inter alia, that a motion to introduce an amendment shall have precedence “over all principal motions and draft resolutions relative to the subject before the meeting”. In my capacity as President of the Security Council, and taking into account the extraordinary circumstances that currently obtain in connection with the Council’s practice and working methods, in particular the absence of “meetings” as referred to in rule 33, I hereby put the amendment proposed in the attached letter from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation (S/2020/691), to a vote. The voting period for this amendment will begin at 12 a.m. on 11 July 2020 and will expire at 12 p.m. on 11 July 2020. Please submit your vote (in favour, against, or abstention) on the proposed amendment to the draft resolution contained in document S/2020/684 by sending the Director of the Security Council Affairs Division of the Secretariat (egian@un.org) a letter signed by the Permanent Representative or Chargé d’affaires a.i. within the 12-hour voting period set out above.

The United Kingdom voted against the amendments proposed by the Russian Federation and China. We deeply regret that these amendments needlessly delayed voting on the co-penholder’s draft resolution, causing the cross-border humanitarian aid mandate to expire. This followed a process in which Russian and China twice vetoed arrangements that have the backing of the United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners. Their vetoes and these delaying amendments are particularly irresponsible at a time when the world is coming together to fight the coronavirus disease pandemic and in the light of a Security Council resolution that called for the safe, unhindered and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance, and the provision of related services by impartial humanitarian actors, in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. We note that Russia’s latest veto was its sixteenth veto of a text related to the situation in Syria. Consistently giving in to the demands of the murderous Al-Assad regime is just one way in which the Russian Federation has shown a clear lack of humanity when it comes to the Syrian people. It is our sincere hope that the Council can now move on expeditiously to vote on the co-penholder’s draft resolution and make it possible for the United Nations and its implementing partners to continue to provide life-saving humanitarian aid to those who so desperately need it.