The United Nations General Assembly convened on Thursday to address rising tensions over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, following the rejection of a Security Council resolution by China and Russia.
Opening the session, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock urged member states to move beyond the impasse at the Security Council and take responsibility for advancing dialogue on maintaining safe navigation through the critical waterway.
She warned that the situation reflects a broader pattern of instability, highlighting underlying issues such as concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and ongoing regional military tensions.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva defended Moscow’s decision to block the resolution, arguing that the proposed text could have been used to justify further military intervention under the guise of protecting maritime security. She cautioned that it risked escalating the conflict rather than resolving it.
Evstigneeva added that Russia and China had introduced an alternative proposal aimed at promoting a diplomatic solution.
China’s UN representative Fu Cong supported this position, stressing that any Council action must not legitimize unauthorized operations or enable the use of force.
In contrast, US envoy Mike Waltz strongly criticized both countries, accusing them of protecting what he described as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. He reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to ensuring the uninterrupted flow of essential goods, including food, energy, and fertilizers, through the Strait.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s UN delegation head Stavros Lambrinidis warned of the wider economic fallout, citing sharp increases in fertilizer prices across Latin America and the Caribbean, alongside a significant global rise in urea costs. He cautioned that such disruptions could push tens of millions more people into severe food insecurity, drawing parallels with the impact of Russia’s blockade in the Black Sea.
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