Moscow: Draft resolution on Srebrenica is politically-motivated and imbalanced

The British-proposed draft resolution on the tragic events in the Bosnian Muslim town of Srebrenica that took place 20 years ago during the 1992-1995 civil war in Bosnia is politically-motivated and imbalanced, the Russian Security Council said in a statement issued in connection with the UN Security Council vote on the document on Wednesday.

Russia vetoed the British-proposed draft resolution earlier on Wednesday. Angola, Venezuela, China and Nigeria abstained from voting. As a result, the draft resolution was not adopted.

"We regret the British insisted on putting the document to vote despite our numerous warnings and concerns addressed to the UN Security Council from the Balkan region about the consequences of adopting the draft, which carries a conflict potential," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"It is clear that the document was totally unacceptable in its present form because it was politically motivated, imbalanced and pernicious for the process of national reconciliation in the Balkans. The blame for what happened at that time would have been put exclusively on the Serbian side with no account of the fact that Serbs themselves also fell victim to that tragedy," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"Accentuation only on one of the numerous war crimes committed at that time while burying other crimes in oblivion is absolutely illegitimate and would have caused a deeper split in Bosnian society," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.