Zakharova called “stuffing” the message that Russia had blocked the UN Security Council resolution on Libya. But this is confirmed by the information source of the Security Council.

In a September 15 report by France Presse, entitled “Russia Blocks the Extension of the UN Mission in Libya, Diplomatic Sources Say” it says:

“Russia has stumped the Security Council over a one-year extension of the UN’s political mission in Libya, jeopardizing international unity ahead of the December 24 presidential election, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Moscow, which has the right to veto, did not approve of the language prepared by the UK on the withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries from Libya, as well as on the role of the UN envoy to the North African country, the sources said.

The UN mission’s mandate expires late Wednesday afternoon, and the Security Council planned to vote in the morning on a simple “technical postponement” by the end of the month to “resolve issues” by then, said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Russian diplomatic mission to the UN declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.

During the last debates in the Security Council on Libya, Russia insisted that any withdrawal of foreign troops should be carried out in such a way as not to jeopardize the balance of power in the country. “

But what reported the day before, September 14, Security Council Report – a site informing about the work of the Security Council and sponsored by 25 states, among which there are no permanent members of the Security Council:

“Tomorrow (September 15), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for another year, until September 15, 2022. Voting was originally scheduled for September 14, but was postponed to September 15. <…>

There appears to be a disagreement during the negotiations over the wording in the operative paragraph regarding the withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries. In the previous draft, the regulation on coordination and cooperation of UNSMIL with international actors noted that such cooperation would be aimed at facilitating the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya. It appears that China and Russia opposed this phrase, which has been deleted. Instead, language has been added from Resolution 2570 of April 16, which urges Member States to “respect and support the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement [от октября 2020 года], including through the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya. ” In addition, the preambular paragraph, which recognizes “the need to plan for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of armed groups”, was expanded by the authors of the document to include “all relevant non-state armed actors, including the return of their members to their countries of origin”.

The resolution extending the mission’s mandate until September 30 was indeed unanimous. accepted, however, not on Tuesday, as Zakharova claims, but on Wednesday 15 September. But this is just a two-week technical extension. The vote on the extension for a year has not yet taken place.

Thus, it is not clear what Zakharova is trying to refute. Security Council Report claims that the vote was postponed until the last moment (the mandate expired at the end of the day on September 15), and the reason was the position of Russia and China regarding the wording on the withdrawal of foreign troops and mercenaries. This is exactly what AFP reported, except that it was silent about China’s position.

It is curious that Zakharova did not mention the mercenaries. There is evidence that in battles in Libya participated mercenaries from the so-called PMC Wagner.