Debate on NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia again fails to make it to UNSC agenda

NEW YORK - A debate requested by Russia to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1999 NATO aggression on the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has again failed to make it to the UN Security Council agenda after six of 15 members of the top UN body voted in favour and nine abstained on Thursday.

Russia, China, Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and Mozambique voted for the request.

The vote was preceded by a debate between Western diplomats and the Russian representative, after French Ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Riviere opposed the Russian initiative, arguing that the UNSC was not a "forum for discussions about historical events."

Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy accused France of manipulation and attempting to thwart a session on the 25th anniversary of the NATO aggression.

Commenting on de Riviere's statement that the bombing was a matter of the past, Polyanskiy said problems with implementation of UNSCR 1244 persisted and that the situation in Kosovo-Metohija was deteriorating.

Previously three UNSC member states backed the Russian initiative and 12 abstained in a vote on Monday.