Russia on Wednesday, August 30, vetoed an attempt to maintain UN experts in military-run Mali after the Security Council issued veiled criticism of alleged abuses by Wagner mercenaries hired by the junta.
Thirteen of the panel's 15 members backed a draft resolution that would have extended sanctions, which expire this week, by one year and kept the experts in place, with China abstaining.
But Russia exercised its veto power to block the proposal led by Mali's former colonial power France and the United Arab Emirates after an impromptu closed-door huddle by diplomats failed to break the deadlock.
"Despite the fact that we repeatedly urged a constructive approach and a sensible compromise, the texts did not in any way take into consideration the concerns of the Malian side or the Russian Federation's position," Moscow's envoy Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto. "There was every chance and opportunity for this to work up until the last minute," he said.
The expiring sanctions were put in place in 2017 in support of a peace deal two years earlier in the fragile Sahel country, which has been battling jihadist insurgents. The sanctions ban travel and freeze the assets of violators of the peace agreement. Implementation has been limited, with only eight people hit with sanctions.
Russia had accepted an extension of the sanctions but insisted it would be for the last time and it sought an immediate end to the panel that monitors the sanctions.
Western powers accused Russia of retaliating after the panel spoke critically about actions by Malian forces and their "foreign security partners" – a clear reference to Wagner.
A report submitted to the Security Council in August said that violence against women "allegedly committed by the Malian Armed Forces and their foreign and local allies is systematic and organized."
"Russia seeks to eliminate the panel of experts' mandate to stifle publication of uncomfortable truths about Wagner's actions in Mali which require attention," US envoy Robert Wood said. The elimination of the panel would make the sanctions "ineffective," he said.
"Too many people continue to suffer from the ongoing violence and due to Russia's actions, this Council has failed to renew some of the most important international initiatives for addressing this crisis," he added.
Mali has shifted sharply to Russia after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, becoming one of the few nations to back Moscow at the United Nations over its invasion of Ukraine. Mali's junta has kicked out French forces battling jihadists and UN peacekeepers ended a decade-long mission in late June.
Wagner – whose leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash last week after leading a revolt against Russian President Vladimir Putin – has been ruthless in its support of Malian and other African militaries that hire the group.
UN rights investigators say Malian troops and foreign forces – presumed to be Wagner – were behind the massacre of at least 500 people in the central Malian town of Moura in March 2022.
Nebenzia warned that the sanctions risked becoming an "instrument for the external imposition of blanket sanctions on Mali." Russia put forward its own resolution, but it alone voted in its favor.
The Malian junta had urged an end to the sanctions regime, saying a previous government's support for it to back the peace process was no longer relevant. But tensions have been rising between the government and the Coordination of Azawad Movements, which brings together predominantly ethnic Tuaregs who in 2012 mounted a revolt in northern Mali.
The draft resolution vetoed by Russia would have voiced concern over "threats to the ceasefire" and urged full cooperation with the UN peacekeepers as they move ahead with their departure by the end of the year.
Pointing to rising uncertainties in Mali, British envoy James Kariuki called Russia's use of its veto "reckless." "This will reduce the council's oversight and engagement on Mali's peace process at a critical juncture," he said.