UN Approves More Transparent Procedures for People, Entities to Get Off Sanctions Lists

Members of the United Nations Security Council attend a meeting at UN headquarters in New York, US, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
Members of the United Nations Security Council attend a meeting at UN headquarters in New York, US, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
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UN Approves More Transparent Procedures for People, Entities to Get Off Sanctions Lists

Members of the United Nations Security Council attend a meeting at UN headquarters in New York, US, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo
Members of the United Nations Security Council attend a meeting at UN headquarters in New York, US, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved more transparent procedures Friday for the hundreds of individuals, companies and other entities who are subject to UN sanctions and want to get off the blacklists.
The resolution, co-sponsored by Malta and the United States, also authorizes the establishment of a new informal working group by the Security Council to examine ways to improve the effectiveness of UN sanctions.
Malta’s UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier told the council before the vote that the resolution is a “clear signal of this council’s commitment towards due process.”
It authorizes a new “focal point” to directly engage with those seeking to get off sanctions lists and gather information from a variety of sources to share with the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions, which makes the decisions on delisting, she said. And it requires the reason for the committee’s decision to be given to the petitioner.
After the vote, US deputy ambassador Robert Wood called the council’s unanimous approval “a historic moment,” saying delisting procedures haven't changed for 18 years.
“The international community is demonstrating its commitment to values such as transparency and fairness in UN sanctions processes,” he said.
“Security Council sanctions are an important tool to deter an array of threats to peace and security, ranging from the proliferation of arms and weapons of mass destruction, to countering terrorism and preventing human rights abuses,” The Associated Press quoted Wood as saying.
But he stressed that to be effective, sanctions must be targeted and there must be “robust and fair procedures for delisting when warranted.”
The United States is against indefinite and punitive sanctions, and supports delisting and easing sanctions when warranted, Wood said. “But we are concerned by a growing tendency to prematurely lift sanctions, when the threats that prompted their imposition in the first place still persist.”
He didn’t give any examples but the US and its allies including South Korea and Japan have vehemently opposed Russian and Chinese proposals to ease sanctions on North Korea, which violates UN sanctions regularly with its ballistic missile tests and nuclear developments.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow proceeds from the premise that Security Council sanctions “are one of the most stringent and robust responses to threats to peace. Therefore, they should be applied in an exceedingly cautious way.”
“They need to be irreproachable, be substantiated, and they need to be nuanced,” he said. “The use of such sanctions as a punitive tool is unacceptable.”
Polyansky stressed that sanctions need to reflect the real situation in a country and “help facilitate a political process.”
But he said the Security Council doesn’t always follow this approach, and blamed the West for increasingly encouraging the use of sanctions in recent years.



UK and India Discuss ‘Counter-Terrorism’ Cooperation After Pakistan Ceasefire

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a press conference with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita (not pictured) in Rabat, Morocco, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a press conference with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita (not pictured) in Rabat, Morocco, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
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UK and India Discuss ‘Counter-Terrorism’ Cooperation After Pakistan Ceasefire

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a press conference with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita (not pictured) in Rabat, Morocco, 01 June 2025. (EPA)
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy speaks during a press conference with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates Nasser Bourita (not pictured) in Rabat, Morocco, 01 June 2025. (EPA)

Britain and India on Saturday discussed expanding their "counter-terrorism" collaboration following recent fighting between India and Pakistan, Britain's foreign minister told Reuters after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

British foreign minister David Lammy is the highest-profile Western official to have visited both New Delhi and Islamabad since the South Asian neighbors agreed to a ceasefire last month after their worst fighting in nearly three decades.

The latest tensions began in April after the killing of 26 men in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied. India then attacked what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan, leading to escalation from both sides until a May 10 ceasefire.

"We want the situation to be maintained, but of course we recognize fragility, particularly in the backdrop of terrorism, terrorism designed to destabilize India," Lammy said in an interview at the residence of the British High Commissioner in New Delhi.

"We are keen to continue to work with our Indian partners on counter-terrorism measures."

He said he discussed the next steps with both Modi and Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, but gave no specifics.

Last year, India and Britain discussed combating the financing of terrorism, cooperation between law enforcement and judicial bodies and information sharing.

Lammy said he also discussed boosting trade between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies. The countries concluded talks for a free trade deal early last month.

"I know that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is very much looking forward to coming to India very soon to sign the free trade agreement," Lammy said. "There is so much that our two nations can continue to do together."