Russia, US confront each other at the United Nations over Syria

A session of the United Nations Security Council. Photo: Reuters.

The United States and Syria's ally Russia have presented opposing draft resolutions to extend the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), which is investigating allegations that President Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons, for another year. Both sides have called for the Security Council to vote on their drafts on November 16, AFP reported.

Diplomats predict Russia will veto the US draft, the 10th time Moscow has blocked UN action against an ally. Meanwhile, Russia is unlikely to garner the nine votes needed for a resolution to pass.

"The United States hopes the Security Council will be united in confronting the use of chemical weapons against civilians and extend the work of this important group," the US mission to the UN said in a statement. "Otherwise, we are supporting this atrocity and failing the Syrian people."

Russia strongly criticized the JIM after its final report said the Syrian air force had carried out a toxic gas attack on the village of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people in April. The attack angered the international community, and the US decided to launch a series of missiles at a Syrian air base in response.

The Russian draft calls for setting aside the JIM's findings to allow for a "high-quality, comprehensive" investigation. Moscow opposed extending the JIM in October. Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia later said that cancelling the JIM would "send a bad signal, but the way the investigation is conducted would send an even worse signal."

The JIM was established unanimously by the 15 members of the Security Council in 2015 and was renewed for one year in 2016. The decision on the JIM is scheduled to expire at the end of November 16. The US and its allies have accused the al-Assad regime of being behind the Khan Sheikhoun attack, but Syria has denied it.

Location of Khan Sheikhoun town, Syria. Graphics: Al Jazeera.

According to VNE