By Jonathan Saul
LONDON (Reuters) -Russia failed on Friday to win enough votes to rejoin the U.N. shipping agency’s governing council despite urging countries to back its nomination for a seat it lost in 2023.
The outcome is another blow for Russia which also failed to secure enough support in September to get elected to the U.N. aviation agency’s governing council, in another diplomatic rebuke of Moscow over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) is responsible for regulating the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution, and comprises 176 member states. Moscow has been an IMO member since 1958 and was consistently re-elected to the IMO Council before 2023.
Russia was among 48 countries seeking 40 spots for a two-year term on the council which supervises the work of the body. It was the only candidate rejected among the 10 states with the largest interest in international shipping services, which include the United States and China.
Russia’s transport ministry said the vote was unfair.
“Starting in 2023, political confrontation with Russia by a number of countries has made the issue of Russia’s election to the IMO Council highly politicised,” it said in a statement.
Prior to Friday’s vote, Russia had told IMO members that it was an active participant in the agency’s work but complained that it was starting to deviate from impartiality.
Ukraine has opposed Russian efforts at various U.N. agencies and did not stand for election at the IMO Council.
It urged member states not to support Russia’s candidacy, saying Moscow “undermines global shipping safety and … cannot claim a leading role in global maritime governance”, referring to attacks on Ukraine’s ports and maritime infrastructure.
(Reporting by Jonathan Saul and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Peter Graff)
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