UN Security Council to vote on draft resolution to investigate Nord Stream sabotage

Illustration photo: TASS

On March 27 (local time), the United Nations Security Council will vote on a draft resolution by Russia and China on an international investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

The draft text calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish an independent international commission to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigation into all aspects of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, including identifying the perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and their accomplices.

Mr. Guterres is expected to appoint experts to the committee. If the resolution is adopted, the UN Secretary-General will recommend the establishment of the committee within 30 days. The draft text also encourages countries conducting their own investigations to fully cooperate and share information with the committee. The draft resolution also calls on these countries to share information with other relevant parties.

According to TASS, Russia prepared the first draft of the Nord Stream resolution in late February, but did not put it to a vote immediately. Instead, they invited Security Council members to discuss the text. Since then, three consultations have been held.

According to the news agency's sources, there is currently no general consensus on Russia's proposed document, meaning it is unlikely to be adopted.

By law, a resolution must be supported by at least nine members of the Security Council to be adopted. Any permanent member can veto it, but only if there are enough votes to pass the document. For example, if a resolution receives eight votes in favor and the United States votes against it, this means the veto is not used. However, if the document receives nine or more votes, the negative vote will result in the use of the veto.

“It is not the number of votes that matters, but how they vote,” said Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya. Earlier, Western countries announced that Russia would be isolated and that it would not have the support of the Security Council, because Russia opposed the Security Council’s initiatives on Ukraine, while the remaining members either supported or abstained.

The draft resolution was previously co-sponsored by China. The other permanent members of the Security Council, including Britain, the United States and France, are unlikely to support it, and may vote against it or abstain to avoid being accused of obstructing the work of the Security Council. The other Western members of the Security Council - Albania, Malta, Switzerland and Japan - are likely to vote on behalf of their bloc.

The positions of the other non-permanent members, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, the United Arab Emirates and Ecuador, are unclear, so Western countries with veto power may not need to use it to block the resolution from passing.

The Security Council meeting to vote on the measure was scheduled for last week. However, on March 26, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry revealed plans to hold an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement about his intention to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. The specific date of the meeting has not been set, but it is likely to take place on March 27 (local time).

On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported “unprecedented damage” to three sections of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Swedish seismologists recorded two explosions on September 26 near the pipeline. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal case on charges of international terrorism.