AFP: U.S. reversal prevents U.N. vote on pandemic truce
“The United States on Friday stunned other members of the U.N. Security Council by preventing a vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in various conflicts around the world to help troubled nations better fight the coronavirus pandemic, diplomats said. Washington’s reversal came a day after it agreed to the text, negotiators said under cover of anonymity. … The latest stalemate continues to leave the global peace and security body largely mute in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic that has killed more than 270,000 people and raised further fears for the world’s most vulnerable. When asked for an explanation of the U.S. move, a State Department official told AFP that China had ‘repeatedly blocked compromises that would have allowed the Council to move forward’…” (5/9).

The Guardian: U.S. blocks vote on U.N.’s bid for global ceasefire over reference to WHO
“The U.S. has blocked a vote on a U.N. security council resolution calling for a global ceasefire during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the Trump administration objected to an indirect reference to the World Health Organization. … On Thursday night, it appeared that the compromise resolution had the support of the U.S. mission, but on Friday morning, that position switched and the U.S. ‘broke silence’ on the resolution, raising objection to the phrase ‘specialist health agencies,’ and blocking movement towards a vote. … A spokesperson for the U.S. mission at the U.N. suggested that if the resolution was to mention the work of the WHO, it would have to include critical language about how China and the WHO have handled the pandemic…” (Borger, 5/8).

Additional coverage of the U.S. move to block a Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a global ceasefire is available from DW, France 24, and Reuters (2).