Anna Evstigneeva, the new deputy ambassador at the Russian mission to the UN. She is the first woman to have that role there, although she worked at the mission, including as a political coordinator, from 2011 to 2016. She began her diplomatic career in Oslo. JOHN PENNEY
Carol Pasisi, an activist from the Pacific island nation of Niue, spoke to the Security Council on July 24 about the threats of climate change in her region, like damage to the blue economy.
The Security Council held a climate change and security debate, led by Germany, nearly 10 years since the first and last time the Council met on this specific issue and agreed to a presidential statement on it. The Dominican Republic also led a meeting on climate change in January 2019.
A Saudi-led post-bombing scene in Hodeidah, Yemen. The US is the world’s largest exporter of explosive weapons, and Saudi Arabia is its biggest customer. DIETRICH KLOSE/FLICKR
The Security Council virtual meeting on June 30, debating the status of the Iran nuclear deal’s arms embargo, which expires Oct. 18, 2020. US Secretary of State Pompeo attended briefly, above, to make his pitch to keep the ban. He met resistance, as expected, from members.
Belgium’s ambassador to the UN, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, being interviewed in his office in Midtown Manhattan by Stéphanie Fillion, a PassBlue reporter, Jan. 30, 2020. The country is rotating president of the Security Council in February, managing a tight schedule that includes a meeting on the recently announced US proposal for the Mideast.
The Democratic presidential debate in Iowa, Jan. 14, 2020, Drake University. Few of the candidates have uttered the words “United Nations,” but a close reading of their speeches and other sources reveals a range of positions on “how they would operate in the international system,” the author writes. The unifying topic for the candidates is mitigating climate change.
In the UN Security Council on Dec. 19, Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador, spoke about the Iran nuclear deal. To his right is Joanne Wronecka, Poland’s ambassador. Russia delayed two separate votes on dueling Syrian cross-border humanitarian-aid resolutions that day. The next day, Russia vetoed the one submitted by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait but voted for its own proposal. Both resolutions failed, creating a bah-humbug mood for the holiday.
Ambassador Karen Pierce of Britain in the Security Council with Riyad Mansour, center, Palestine’s envoy to the UN, May 15, 2018. Britain’s theme for its Council presidency is the effects of conflict on ordinary people, not a controversial issue. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
President Putin’s first Russia-Africa summit, held in the Black Sea city of Sochi this month, showcased Russian-made weapons and other goods and services. As for the big picture, the summit projected Russia’s intent to return as an influencer in Africa, building on Soviet-era alliances there. JOE PENNEY
Demonstrators in Berlin protesting the war in Syria. A new attribution team at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is ready to work on determining who is to blame for the 2018 chemical attacks in Syria, despite angry objections by Russia. CREATIVE COMMONS
