Russia, US veto rival UN Western Sahara resolutions, leaving peacekeeping mission in limbo
Russia and the United States each blocked the other's draft, leaving the 35-year-old peacekeeping mission without a renewed mandate and raising concerns for civilians.
- On Friday, the United States and Russia vetoed competing resolutions at the United Nations Security Council, allowing the Western Sahara peacekeeping mission MINURSO's mandate to expire today, October 31, 2026.
- Established in 1991 to oversee a ceasefire, MINURSO has monitored the dispute between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front for 50 years following Spain's 1975 withdrawal from the former colony.
- Washington proposed renaming the mission MINUSO, dropping the "R" for referendum, which Russia slammed as a "unilateral approach." Ambassador Mike Waltz argued the change reflected decades-long peace process realities.
- Morocco's Royal Cabinet welcomed the nonrenewal, while Algeria and the Polisario Front expressed "satisfaction" with the rejection; France's Jerome Bonnafont denounced "Russia's obstruction."
- UN personnel remain in limbo following the mandate's expiration, and Oxfam warned that losing these de-escalation functions could threaten civilian security and put refugees at greater risk.
99 Articles
99 Articles
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US and Russia clash at UN Security Council, leaving North Africa peacekeeping mission on brink of total shutdown
A diplomatic standoff between Russia and the United States has left a United Nations peacekeeping mission in North Africa facing an uncertain future, after both countries vetoed rival proposals on the long-running conflict over Western Sahara.
UN Western Sahara peacekeeping mission left in limbo after US-Russia veto standoff
UN Western Sahara peacekeeping mission left in limbo after US-Russia veto standoff Submitted by MEE staff on Sat, 10/31/2026 - 09:49 The double veto blocked the Security Council's annual renewal of the mission, which it had routinely extended in previous years United Nations Minurso personnel disembark from a helicopter at the Guerguerat border crossing between Morocco and Mauritania in Western Sahara, 25 November 2020 (Fadel Senna/AFP) Off Th…
Impasse over UN Peacekeeping Mission in Western Sahara: Russia and the US Veto Each Other's Proposal
Russia and the United States have vetoed each other's resolutions regarding the extension of the UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara. This threatens to bring an end to the presence of UN troops and observers in the area. The mission's mandate officially expires today. Normally, the mission has been extended fairly routinely since 1991, but this time the vote in the UN Security Council unfolded differently. The US had submitted a resoluti…
The United Nations Mission for the Organisation of a Referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso) was adjourned in shock at the UN on the night of Friday, 30 to 31 October, burying its 35-year-old presence in the region. While its mandate expires this Saturday, two successive resolutions did not find the necessary votes for it to be renewed. A negotiation that went wrong between the United States and Morocco on the one hand, and Russia and the Polisar…
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