Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, in an Oct. 1 press conference upon assuming the rotating Presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for this month, covered a number of important subjects.
Nebenzia announced that members of UNSC will travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia this month “to hold annual joint consultative meeting with members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (AUPSC).” He said he is very happy to do this, as the Russian Foreign Ministry established a new partnership with the Africa department, “which will strengthen … even further the ties with our African friends.”
Asked about the E3 nations’ (England, German, and France) initiation of “snapback” sanctions against Iran, Nebenzia said that the sanctions were instituted illegally, and “we do not recognize the ‘snapback,’ as coming into force.” He insisted that when resolution 2231, which created the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), expires on October 18, 2025, there will be no more JCPOA and no more sanctions against Iran. He said that during the last month, Iran seriously negotiated with the E3 countries, but ultimately the E3 did not pursue a real serious path of negotiations with Iran because of the United States: “because they know who is calling the shots, and the U.S. is calling the shots,”
When a reporter asked if President Putin has received a response to his offer to the United States that Russia would extend the New START treaty by one year after its February 5, 2026 expiry, if the U.S. were to do likewise, Nebenzia responded, “To my knowledge, there has been nothing official from the U.S. administration yet.”
Asked about Russia’s position on the 20 point proposal which U.S. President Donald Trump presented for Gaza, Nebenzia replied: “We welcome any efforts that would lead to a ceasefire and ending the bloodshed that continues to happen. We know that some of the Arab countries and the Muslim countries already gave a positive response to the plan. There are still issues that need to be clarified. First and foremost, what the Palestinians and other Arabs around in the region are thinking about that plan. One thing that transpired immediately is that not many Arabs are very happy with the role Tony Blair will play in the whole exercise, because they consider him a warmonger and the guy who ignited the whole region with the Iraqi war. He was the staunchest supporter of the U.S. invasion. Let’s see. We need a reaction, first and foremost.” Nebenzia continued: “But if the bloodshed finishes and the ceasefire finally comes into force, we would only be happy, because too many lives have been really wasted, lost, and killed.”
