Rabat – The US vetoed Russia’s alternative draft resolution on Western Sahara at the UN Security Council on Friday.
This came shortly after Russia also vetoed of a US-sponsored proposal on the dispute.
The Russian draft sought to extend the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another year, until October 31, 2027, without changing its name or mandate.
Only three members voted in favor of Russia’s resolution, while the US voted against. The vote marked 11 abstentions.
The US representative to the United Nations Mike Waltz fiercely criticized Russia’s position, warning against maintaining the status quo in Western Sahara and the continued displacement of Sahrawi refugees.
“Let’s think about that again for a moment. That’s 50 years of displacement, an entire lifetime. And then some. Their children born as refugees, growing up as refugees, and now raising children as refugees,” the US representative said.
He stressed that the adoption of Resolution 2797 in October 2025 had established Morocco’s Autonomy Proposal as the basis for negotiations and called for a strategic review of MINURSO’s future mandate.
“UN officials have been telling us this reality for 30 years, and here we are in 2026, and unfortunately, truly, unfortunately and not the intention of the United States, some members of this council have used their veto to preserve the letter ‘R’ for the referendum and the name that the United Nations hasn’t even been preparing to hold for decades. Of course, the United States supports the principle of self-determination;” the US representative added.
Other Council members that opposed Russia’s alternative draft also expressed regret over the failure to advance the resolution and reiterated their support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as a basis for reaching a mutually acceptable political solution
Following the US veto, representative Waltz said the US draft was a good faith attempt.
“Yes, to shift the mandate from a mission that has not delivered its original purpose and 35 years to make this peacekeeping mission fit for purpose,” he said referring to MINURSO.
The US emphasized that “and in addition to the decades of issues around the logistics and issues of conducting a referendum, the mission’s own website right now acknowledges that its referendum preparations ended more than 20 years ago, 20 years ago.”
