Russia's Veto Ends UN Sanctions in Mali

United Nations sanctions in Mali, which targeted those violating a 2015 peace deal, obstructing aid delivery, committing rights abuses, or recruiting child soldiers, will end after Russia vetoed a renewal. Independent U.N. monitors reported that Mali's troops and foreign security partners, including Russia's Wagner mercenary group, were involved in violence against women and other human rights abuses. Russia proposed extending the sanctions for one final year but ending independent monitoring, which was rejected by other Security Council members. The U.S. accused Wagner of engineering the junta's request for the withdrawal of a U.N. peacekeeping force. Mali's junta requested the lifting of sanctions, and the current mandate will expire on Thursday.