Coronavirus: Americans oppose resolution supporting ceasefire at UN

The United States created surprise at the UN on Friday by putting a stop to the voting on a draft resolution by Tunisia and France on the Covid-19 pandemic, after ratifying the watch a compromise. Laboriously negotiated for almost two months, the text aims mainly to support a call for a cease-fire of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, launched on March 23 to facilitate the fight against the disease in countries in crisis or at war.

Washington "cannot support the current draft resolution , " announced without further details, in the middle of a procedure leading to a ballot, the American administration to its 14 Security Council partners, causing their amazement. On Thursday, the Americans had given their agreement, commented negotiators on condition of anonymity.

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The latest version of the project, obtained by AFP, called for, in addition to a "cessation of hostilities" and a "humanitarian break for 90 days" to facilitate assistance to the most affected populations, "reinforced coordination" between members of the 'UN. Most delicate of the negotiation because of a strong Sino-American opposition, the text underlined "the urgent need to support all the countries as the relevant entities of the United Nations system, including the specialized health agencies." A way of talking about the World Health Organization (WHO) without talking about it ...

Wind up against this UN agency accused of lacking transparency and having delayed warning of the terrible future consequences of the pandemic, Washington threatened to use its veto if an explicit mention was made of the WHO. Beijing also brandished its veto power but if no reference was made to it, a point supported by other members of the Security Council.

"From our point of view, the objective should be to support the Secretary-General's call for a cease-fire in the world" and not to serve China's "false speeches" on the outbreak of the pandemic to Wuhan, an official with the State Department told AFP on condition of anonymity. “The Council should move forward either with a resolution limited to support for the ceasefire or with an enlarged resolution fully speaking of the need for a renewed commitment by member states to transparency and accountability in the context of the Covid-19, " he added. "Transparency and reliable data are essential to help the world fight the current and next pandemic," said the US official.

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Asked by AFP about what to expect, the French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, said he wanted "of course to continue to seek an agreement if there is space for that" . "Consultations are continuing to convince the Americans," said his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Kabtani, while promising that the procedure to go to a vote would resume. According to diplomats, the United States had dropped ballast in its showdown with China by agreeing more than a week ago to withdraw its request for a mention of "transparency" in the Franco-Tunisian text. "The bullet had since been in the Chinese camp," said one of them recently, on condition of anonymity.

For an ambassador to the Security Council, the American about-face on Friday is "very, very bad news for the United Nations, the Security Council and multilateralism" .