Vitaly Churkin

Seven key nations neared agreement Tuesday on a new U.N. resolution that would toughen sanctions against North Korea for defying the Security Council and conducting a second nuclear test, but diplomats said Russia still had problems with the text. Ambassadors from the five veto-wielding Security Council nations — the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France — and the two countries most closely affected by the test, Japan and South Korea, had hoped to announce agreement on the text after a two-hour closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning but it was not to be, diplomats said. "We're making progress, but we're not done yet," U.S. Ambassador ... Read Full Story

The Security Council on Wednesday received a UN report blaming Israel for six serious attacks on the organization's buildings during the recent Gaza offensive. "The members of the council expressed their concern about the findings of the report" commissioned by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after a closed-door council meeting on the issue. He added that the 15 members expressed "general interest in being kept abreast of the progress of the matter as the secretary general deems appropriate." The UN report accused Israel of failing to protect UN buildings and the civilians inside them, and recommended that the ... Read Full Story

The U.N. Security Council on Friday condemned "renewed military excursions" by outside rebel fighters operating in eastern Chad, following the signing of a deal over the weekend to normalize relations between Chad and Sudan. Council members said they deplored the actions of "Chadian armed groups coming from outside," according to statement by Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, this month's council president. He said the council also stressed that attempts to destabilize Chad by force were unacceptable. The council demanded that all rebel armed groups put down their arms immediately, and all sides in the fighting restart peace talks. Churkin's statement read aloud in the 15-nation ... Read Full Story

Russia has invited Security Council ministers to a meeting next week to give "new impetus" to the Middle East peace process. Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who holds the council presidency this month, said Monday that "the meeting will reaffirm the council's involvement in the search for a Middle East settlement." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will preside at the May 11 meeting, and Churkin said some ministers already have accepted. The only speakers will be representatives of the 15 council nations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he said. Last December, the Security Council approved a resolution stressing that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process initiated by ... Read Full Story

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia, at odds with Western powers over Georgia, vetoed on Monday a Western plan to extend the mandate of a U.N. mission in the former Soviet republic, in a death blow to the 130-strong observer force. A U.S.- and European-sponsored draft resolution would have extended for two weeks the mandate of the U.N. team in Georgia's breakaway zone of Abkhazia, which declared independence last year after Russia's brief war with Georgia. "There is no point in extending it because it is based on old realities," Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council in an explanation of his vote against ... Read Full Story