U.N. Security Council voted on Friday to extend the legal framework of Operation IRINI, authorized to inspect vessels suspected of violating the arms embargo on Libya, for one year.
The council UNSC Resolution 2292 (2016) with the adoption of Resolution 2684. Resolution 2684 was passed with 14 votes to, none against and one abstention, namely the Russian Federation.
The Russian representative Anna M. Evstigneeva justified the abstention from the vote, indicating that “Moscow was the originator of this inspection mechanism, with the hope that these measures could help reduce illicit arms trafficking on Libyan territory. Unfortunately, the activities of the European Union Naval Operation Irini in the Mediterranean have not brought practical results in terms of stabilization on the ground. There have been no successful interceptions of smuggled goods and the few incidents announced by the leadership of the operation have raised many doubts”.