Russia Ready To Work On Resolution To Extend UN Mission In DRC - Deputy Envoy To UN

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 18, 2019 | 11:13 PM

Russia stands ready to cooperate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to extend the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Monday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) Russia stands ready to cooperate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to extend the mandate of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Monday.

"For our part, we stand ready to work constructively on a draft Security Council resolution for the extension of the mandate of the United Nations stabilization mission in the DRC," Polyanskiy said.

Polyanskiy said the mission should maintain its presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to promote stabilization efforts after the post-electoral period and stressed that any intervention in Kinshasa's domestic affairs by outside actors would be unacceptable.

In January, the DRC's Constitutional Court confirmed the provisional results of the December 20 presidential election and proclaimed opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi to be the republic's new president.

Following the announcement of the provisional results of the election, the country has been facing the escalation of tension between the two rival ethnic groups, the Batende supported the former DRC President Joseph Kabila's party and the Banunu backed opposition candidates.

In February, the US Department of State announced the imposition of sanctions on several high-level election and government officials in the DRC due to their alleged role in corrupting the electoral process in the country.

The mandate of the MONUSCO peacekeeping operation, which supports the government of the DRC in its stabilization efforts, ends on March 31 and the UNSC is set to vote on the extension of the mission on March 27.