The United Nations Security Council is going to privately discuss on Friday a decision by Ethiopia to expel seven senior U.N. officials, diplomats said.
The United States, Britain, France, Ireland, Estonia, and Norway plan to raise the issue during a closed-door meeting of the 15-member body, Reuters reported.
Nevertheless, diplomats say any strong action is unlikely as Russia and China have long made clear they believe the conflict is an internal affair for Ethiopia.
On Thursday, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was expelling seven senior U.N. officials, two days after the U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths warned that a "de-facto" aid blockade had likely forced hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray into famine.
"As a major new military offensive looms, this seems like Ethiopia's attempt to test if the international community is prepared to respond with more than words to an unfolding famine," a senior Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
On his part, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by the decision, stressing that the body was “delivering lifesaving aid — including food, medicine, water, and sanitation supplies -– to people in desperate need” in Ethiopia.
“I was shocked by the information that the Government of Ethiopia has declared seven UN officials … as persona non grata,” Guterres said in a statement.
Moreover, White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned that the United States “will not hesitate” to impose sanctions, asserting that President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to take “aggressive action” under an executive order issued earlier this month.
Follow the latest news on Google News
