U.S. ambassador condemns Russia and China for vetoing U.N. Security Council resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire

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Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, condemned China and Russia for voting against a Security Council resolution which called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying they did it for "cynical" reasons.

Video Transcript

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD: Colleagues, today, the United States put forward a resolution in good faith after consulting with all council members and after multiple rounds of edits. The vast majority of this council voted in favor of this resolution. But, unfortunately, Russia and China decided to exercise its veto.

And now Russia and China will give you all sorts of explanations for its obstruction. But whether or not it will admit it, there are two deeply, deeply cynical reasons behind its votes.

First, Russia and China still could not bring itself to condemn Hamas's terrorist attacks on October 7. Can we just pause on that for a moment? Russia and China refuses to condemn Hamas for burning people alive, for gunning down innocent civilians at a concert, for raping women and girls, for taking hundreds of people hostage. This was the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. And a permanent member of this council can't even condemn it. I'm sorry. It's really outrageous, and it's below the dignity of this body.

The second reason behind this veto is not just cynical. It's also petty. Russia and China simply did not want to vote for a resolution that was penned by the United States because it would rather see us fail than to see this council succeed, even after inclusive consultations over weeks and weeks, even after negotiations and edits produced a draft that received overwhelming council support.

And as you saw today, nearly every council member voted to put the full weight of this body behind the diplomatic efforts to secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that leads to the release of all hostages that will allow much more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza. But, once again, Russia put politics over progress. Russia, who has carried out an unprovoked war on its neighbor, has the audacity and the hypocrisy to throw stones when it lives in a glass house itself.

So let's be honest. For all the fiery rhetoric, we all know that Russia and China are not doing anything diplomatically to advance a lasting peace or to meaningfully contribute to the humanitarian response effort.