Russia failed to win enough support on Saturday to get elected to the UN aviation agency’s governing council in the latest rebuke of Moscow for actions taken after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia received 87 votes, just short of the 93 votes it needed to win back a seat on the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) 36-nation governing council during the agency’s assembly, which runs until October 3 in Montreal.
In 2022 Russia lost its spot on the first part of the council, which includes China, Brazil, the US and Australia as “states of chief importance in air transport”, after its invasion of Ukraine. A Russian representative immediately called for “a repeat round of voting”, which was not accepted by the assembly.
Russia’s transport ministry said the exclusion of the country from the council “damages the authority and effectiveness of the organisation”.
The Russian ministry said the ICAO should operate “on the basis of broad international consensus, not narrow political interests”.
Moscow, it said, had received growing support from the Brics international grouping and countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, which “represent the interests of the overwhelming majority of the planet’s population”.
The ICAO sets global safety standards for civil aviation with the governing council playing a critical role in the process.In addition to the war in Ukraine, Russia faces council condemnation for disturbing signals used in navigation, the global navigation satellite system and global positioning system, charges Moscow denies.
“They are the most aggressive abuser and violator of international agreements and international norms,” US transportation secretary Sean Duffy told Reuters by phone last week about Russia.
Reuters
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