Only US Vetoes Ceasefire, approves Anti personnel landmines & Storm Shadows used

Reuters

Nov 20 (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, drawing criticism of the Biden administration for once again blocking international action aimed at halting Israel’s war with Hamas.
The 15-member council voted on a resolution put forward by 10 non-permanent members that called for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in the 13-month conflict and separately demanded the release of hostages.

Only the U.S. voted against, using its veto as a permanent council member to block the resolution.

Members roundly criticized the U.S. for blocking the resolution put forward by the council’s 10 elected members: Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland.

“It is deeply regretted that due to the use of the veto this council has once again failed to uphold its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” Malta’s U.N. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier said after the vote failed, adding that the text of the resolution “was by no means a maximalist one.”

Can Ukraine’s Deadly Land Mines Approved by Biden Stop Russian Advancement?

The U.S. will send antipersonnel land mines to Ukraine in the second major policy shift from the winding-down Joe Biden administration in only a few days, although it remains to be seen just how much of a difference these mines will make in the face of Moscow’s advances. President Biden, who is in a last-ditch effort to supply Ukraine in his final two months in office, greenlit the supply of antipersonnel land mines to Kyiv, a U.S. defense official told Newsweek. The mines will become inactive after a predetermined period of time, the official said. Ukraine has committed not to use the mines in densely populated civilian areas, the official added. U.S. officials told The Washington Post, which first reported on the approval, that the Pentagon assesses the mines could be one of the most effective ways to slow Russia’s attacks, which have yielded battlefield gains in the east throughout the year.

Land mines can be effective military tools, but are controversial among human rights groups as they can pose a danger to civilians for a long time. They are banned by over 150 countries, although this does not include Russia or the U.S. The latter has already furnished Ukraine, which is the most mined country in the world, with land mines designed to take out armored vehicles and tanks. Russia has reportedly used more than a dozen types of antipersonnel land mines in Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch.

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Storm Shadow Missiles fired into Russia for the first time

UK-made Storm Shadow missiles fired into Russia for the first time

Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv and Andrew Roth in Washington report on the use of Storm Shadow missiles

Ukraine has fired UK-made Storm Shadow missiles into Russia for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Guardian understands according to multiple sources.

The decision to approve the strikes was made in response to the deployment of more than 10,000 North Korean troops on Russia’s border with Ukraine in what UK and US officials have warned was a major escalation of the nearly three-year-old conflict.

The Guardian earlier this week reported that the UK would soon approve Storm Shadow missiles for use inside Russia after the US president, Joe Biden, agreed to do the same for the similar American Atacms weapon.

It was not immediately clear what Ukraine used the Storm Shadow missiles to target. Unconfirmed images distributed via the Telegram messaging app appeared to show fragments of the missile at a location with the Kursk region. One weapons expert, Trevor Ball, formerly of the US Army said the images circulating did show Storm Shadow fragments though he could verify if they were current or old pictures.