AP interview: Divisions among the world’s powerful nations are undermining UN efforts to end crises

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN peacekeeping chief says deep divisions especially among the world’s most powerful nations have significantly undermined what the United Nations can do to help nations move from conflict to peace. Jean-Pierre Lacroix told AP that these divisions – most notably between the U.S. and the West on one side and Russia and often China on the other — don’t only affect peacekeeping but everything the U.N. does in trying to promote peace and security. The result is that in some cases the rivalry can lead to the presence of UN peacekeepers being questioned or even asked to leave, he said ahead of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Wednesday.