The Veto Initiative

In 2022, a new process for the GA to hold SC members accountable for their use of the veto emerged. On 26 April, the GA passed resolution 76/262 (without a vote), otherwise known as the Veto Initiative, which stipulates that every time a veto is used in the SC, the GA will meet within 10 working days and “hold a debate on the situation as to which the veto was cast, provided that the Assembly does not meet in an emergency special session on the same situation” (A/RES/76/262).¹

As of the publication of this Handbook, 14 debates in the GA were prompted in reference to resolution 76/262, following the veto of a draft resolution or an amendment to a draft resolution. In the same period, there have been another six instances of vetoes by a permanent member, but these were followed by the convening of an emergency special session on the same matter and so, in accordance with resolution 76/262, it was not necessary to separately convene a debate on the situation.

So far, the GA has convened in reference to resolution 76/262 to deliberate on:

• The Russian Federation’s veto of a renewal of the sanctions regime for Mali (S/2023/638).²
• Russian Federation and/or Chinese vetoes of resolutions that would have renewed the panels of experts linked to the sanctions regime in the DPRK (S/2022/431; S/2024/255).³
• The Russian Federation’s veto of two draft resolutions (one in July 2022 and one in July 2023) that would have extended the provision of cross-border humanitarian aid into the Syrian Arab Republic (S/2023/506; S/2022/538).⁴
• Vetoes of draft resolutions related to responses to the Gaza conflict that began in October 2023, by the US, China and the Russian Federation.⁵
• The US veto of a draft resolution (S/2024/312) related to the question of membership for the “State of Palestine”.
• The Russian Federation’s veto of a draft resolution (S/2024/302) on the arms race in outer space.
• The Russian Federation’s veto of a draft resolution (S/2024/826) calling for a cessation of hostilities and the protection of civilians in Sudan in the context of the conflict that began in April 2023.
• The Russian Federation’s veto of two amendments (S/2025/115; S/2025/116) to a draft resolution eventually adopted (S/2025/112), one reaffirming Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the other imploring an end to the conflict that began in February 2022.
• China and the Russian Federation’s veto of a draft resolution concerning maritime security in and near the Strait of Hormuz (S/2026/273).

In all of the debates convened so far in relation to the Veto Initiative, the GA has considered the matter but did not adopt a resolution in response to the matter. The GA has passed resolutions in some of the emergency special sessions that have been reconvened to consider matters related to SC vetoes. These are discussed in the case study summaries of the 10th emergency special session and the 11th emergency special session.

The table below offers a summary of those draft resolutions that have been vetoed and then undergone a GA debate in connection with the Veto Initiative, with accompanying links to those GA debates, as available. As of the close of the 80th session, there had been 20 vetoes cast by permanent members since the Veto Initiative was created. Of these, there were 14 GA Veto Initiative debates convened in response; in the other 6 cases, the matter was taken up in an emergency special session. 

Beginning in the 77th session, the President of the GA began to produce an informal summary of the Veto Initiative plenary debate that took place. With resolution 79/327, this practice was formalized, with the GA requesting the President of the GA to provide these summaries and include “recommendations for action” (A/RES/79/327, para. 6).

Debates held in accordance with General Assembly resolution 76/262 following Security Council vetoes

Within this table, the following abbreviations are used: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Emergency Special Session (ESS), General Assembly (GA), Not Applicable (N.A.), People’s Republic of China (PRC), President of the General Assembly (PGA), Russian Federation (RF), Security Council (SC), United States (US). ◆ indicates cases in which no Veto Initiative debate was held because the matter was dealt with through an emergency special session.

Date of SC consideration	Draft SC resolutionand and matter	Veto by	GA debate on veto	PGA Summary
7 April 2026	S/2026/273: The situation in the Middle East	PRC, RF	16 April 2026 A/80/PV.79 A/80/PV.80	PGA Summary
18 September 2025	S/2025/583: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	1 October 2025 A/80/PV.15 A/80/PV.16	PGA Summary
◆ 4 June 2025	S/2025/353: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-10 A/ES-10/PV.60*	N.A.
24 February 2025	S/2025/115 S/2025/116: Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine – Amendments to the draft resolution S/2025/112	RF	6 March 2025 A/79/PV.60	PGA Summary
◆ 20 November 2024	S/2024/835: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-10 A/ES-10/PV.57 A/ES-10/PV.58 A/ES-10/PV.59	N.A.
18 November 2024	S/2024/826: Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan	RF	26 November 2024 A/79/PV.42	PGA Summary
24 April 2024	S/2024/302: Non-proliferation	RF	6 May 2024 A/78/PV.78 A/78/PV.79	PGA Summary
18 April 2024	S/2024/312: Admission of new members	US	1 May 2024 A/78/PV.74 A/78/PV.75	PGA Summary
28 March 2024	S/2024/255: Non-proliferation – DPRK	RF	11 April 2024 A/78/PV.68 A/78/PV.69	PGA Summary
22 March 2024	S/2024/239: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	PRC, RF	8 April 2024 A/78/PV.66 A/78/PV.67	PGA Summary
20 February 2024	S/2024/173: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	4 & 5 March 2024 A/78/PV.59 A/78/PV.60 A/78/PV.61	PGA Summary
22 December 2023	S/2023/1029 Oral amendment – The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	9 January 2024 A/78/PV.51 A/78/PV.52	PGA Summary
◆ 8 December 2023	S/2023/970: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-10 A/ES-10/PV.45 A/ES-10/PV.46 A/ES-10/PV.47 A/ES-10/PV.48	N.A.
◆ 25 October 2023	S/2023/792: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	PRC, RF	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-10 A/ES-10/PV.39: A/ES-10/PV.44	N.A.
◆ 18 October 2023	S/2023/773: The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question	US	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-10 A/ES-10/PV.39: A/ES-10/PV.44	N.A.
30 August 2023	S/2023/638: The situation in Mali	RF	11 September 2023 A/78/PV.3	PGA Summary
11 July 2023	S/2023/506: The situation in the Middle East	RF	19 July 2023 A/77/PV.90 A/77/PV.91	PGA Summary
◆ 30 September 2022	S/2022/720: Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine	RF	No Veto Initiative debate: Dealt with in ESS-11 A/ES-11/PV.12 A/ES-11/PV.13 A/ES-11/PV.14	N.A.
8 July 2022	S/2022/538: The situation in the Middle East	RF	21 July 2022 A/76/PV.95 A/76/PV.96	N.A.
26 May 2022	S/2022/431: Non-proliferation – DPRK	PRC, RF	8 & 10 June 2022 A/76/PV.77 A/76/PV.78 A/76/PV.81 A/76/PV.82	N.A.

* As of the time of publication, the meeting record was not available.