S/PV.10064 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2025/804, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2806 (2025). I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

The United Kingdom welcomes the unanimous adoption of this resolution (resolution 2806 (2025)). We thank all Council members for their constructive approach to negotiations, which enabled us to arrive at this consensus outcome. The resolution we have adopted today mandates a strong package of measures to degrade Al-Shabaab, including constraining its access to arms, disrupting its finances and supporting Somalia to enhance its capabilities. This resolution also sets out a responsible pathway towards appropriate changes to the arms embargo in the future, ensuring the regime can continue evolving to effectively counter the threat from Al-Shabaab. And this resolution recognizes the continuing threat posed by terrorist groups intent on undermining the security and prosperity of Somalia and the region. We welcome the ongoing campaign against Islamic State in Somalia and urge Council members to work closer together on efforts to degrade them. We also remain concerned about links between Al-Shabaab and the Houthis in Yemen, which represent a significant threat to the stability of Somalia and the region. We encourage the Committee pursuant to resolution 2713 (2023) concerning Al-Shabaab and the Committee established pursuant to resolution 2140 (2014) to coordinate closely on monitoring and countering this threat. We now turn our attention to the mandate of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, where we look forward to maintaining our close collaboration with Somalia and all other Council members as we work to continue driving forward the security transition in Somalia.

The Russian Federation supported the United Kingdom’s resolution on sanctions against the Al-Shabaab terrorist group (resolution 2806 (2025)). We note the relevance of the measures therein to counter this terrorist organization, which is trying to expand For our part, while working on the text, we did everything we could to preserve the focus of the resolution under discussion today on countering Al-Shabaab, as the main threat to international peace and security in the Horn of Africa. We consider the attempts by some Council members to artificially expand the regime to encompass other listed terrorist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), to be counterproductive. First, the relevant sanctions of the Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities contain all the tools necessary for countering ISIL terrorist activities. Secondly, connecting different sanctions regimes leads to politicization and duplication of the work of the relevant Committees and diverts attention away from the priority tasks, namely combating specific terrorist groups and providing the necessary assistance to the State concerned. Thanks to the meticulous work of the African members of the Security Council (A3), the resolution was significantly improved through the introduction of the provisions that bring the mandate and composition of the Panel of Experts more into line with Mogadishu’s interests, reduce excessive reporting by experts to the 2713 Committee and expand the federal authorities’ control over the import of weapons into the country intended for non-State entities. Incidentally, when we discussed the issue of Al-Shabaab in December 2023 and in March 2025, we consistently stressed the flawed nature of the wording of resolutions 2713 (2023) and 2776 (2025) regarding the automatic exemptions for arms deliveries to private security companies, whose names are still unknown to us. Finally, this gap has been filled. We trust that this progress clearly demonstrates that the Council should listen more carefully to the opinions of the countries whose files are on the agenda, particularly on issues related to the determination of sanctions measures against terrorists that are active on their territory. For its part, the Russian Federation stands ready to continue our effective engagement with the A3 and other like-minded countries with a view to further revising the sanctions regime against Al-Shabaab, taking into account the current situation rather than the outdated realities of 1992.

China welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2806 (2025), extending the sanctions measures against Al-Shabaab. We thank the penholders for their efforts. For a long time, Al-Shabaab has seriously threatened the stability of Somalia and the region. China supports combating all forms of terrorism and condemns the terrorist actions of Al-Shabaab. We commend Somalia and countries of the region for their efforts to combat Al-Shabaab. The international community should strictly implement the Council’s sanctions measures to support Somalia in ammunition and arms management, curb their illicit flows and disrupt Al-Shabaab’s networks of arms, funding, recruitment and propaganda.

I thank the United Kingdom for its leadership as penholder. The United States welcomes the reaffirmation of the Al-Shabaab sanctions regime, the arms embargo measures, the travel ban, assets freeze and the renewal of the Panel of Experts’ mandate. These measures are essential to maintaining pressure on Al-Shabaab and other destabilizing actors in Somalia. Renewing the Panel ensures continued transparent reporting, which is vital for informing the Committee pursuant to resolution 2713 (2023) concerning Al-Shabaab and the Council on the implementation of measures to address threats posed by Al-Shabaab. We urge the swift appointment of experts so that they can begin their critical work. We remain concerned by the growing ties between Al-Shabaab and the Houthis, including the use of the Red Sea smuggling routes. We were disappointed that some Council members objected to adding language in the resolution (resolution 2806 (2025)) condemning the training of Al-Shabaab fighters in Yemen, as documented in the Panel’s final report. It is critical to address all forms of support to Al-Shabaab, including the training and facilitation outside Somalia. We encourage dialogue and information-sharing between Yemen and the Al-Shabaab sanctions panels and among countries in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to disrupt these networks. Regional cooperation is also needed to counter piracy, weapons trafficking, terrorist travel and other illicit activities that fuel terrorism. We urge Member States to fully implement the resolution’s measures, which will restrict Al-Shabaab and other illicit actors’ access to funds and weapons and support Somalia’s security institutions. We also encourage new designations, including those of Al-Shabaab operatives, to promote accountability and end impunity. We express reservations concerning the eighth preambular paragraph of the resolution, and we continue to advocate for the end of all forms of sexual violence. The United States remains committed to working with Somalia, Council members and all stakeholders to advance security and stability in the region.