UNITED NATIONS, May 2. /TASS/. The United Nations Security Council has actually become a hostage to the United States’ Middle East policy, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.
"We regret this very much. The actions of our American colleagues do not reflect the principled position of the rest of the UN Security Council members who have become hostages to the US Middle East policy in the past six months," he said at a meeting of the UN General Assembly following the US veto of the UN Security Council resolution on admitting Palestine as a full-fledged UN member.
In late April, the United States vetoed the Algeria-initiated resolution on admitting Palestine as a member of the United Nations.
Palestine applied for full-fledged UN membership in September 2011 but failed to secure the UN Security Council support. The United States said it would veto the resolution if it was approved by other permanent members. According to Washington, Palestine can be admitted to the United Nations only after the Palestinian-Israeli is settled on the two-state basis. Palestine’s authorities decided to postpone this matter and remain a permanent observer.
A country is granted UN membership by a UN General Assembly resolution following a recommendation from the Security Council. Such a recommendation is to be supported by nine out of 15 Security Council members and must not be vetoes by either of the five permanent members (the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the United States, and France). If this condition is observed, the issues is referred to the General Assembly, where it is to be supported by two thirds of votes.