UNITED NATIONS — The President of the eighty-first session of the General Assembly, Dr Khalilur Rahman, has informed member states that he will convene a plenary meeting of the General Assembly on November 10, 2026, in the General Assembly Hall, to discuss the use of the veto over Western Sahara, according to his letter dated November 2, published by the United Nations. The meeting will be held under agenda item 62, "use of the veto".
Source: United Nations, Office of the PGA
The November 10 debate follows the development Awaaz Punjab reported on October 30-31: Russia vetoed a US-backed draft that would have extended the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), a rival Russian draft also failed, the mission's mandate expired on October 31 and its liquidation began. What is new this week is the formal General Assembly step: under the standing veto-initiative mandate, the whole membership now gets its mandated debate on that veto. Read the veto report
The convening follows the rule set by General Assembly resolution 76/262, adopted unanimously in April 2022, which requires a plenary debate within ten working days whenever a permanent Security Council member exercises its veto, the Sahara Press Service (SPS) reported on Tuesday. The resolution seeks to strengthen the General Assembly's oversight and accountability role whenever the Security Council is prevented from acting by a veto. The veto in question was cast at the Security Council's 10,260th meeting on October 30, 2026, under the agenda item "the situation concerning Western Sahara", the UN letter states.
Source: Sahara Press Service
What happened on October 30: rival drafts, two vetoes, no mandate
Russia vetoed the US-backed proposal on October 30 despite support from 11 of the council's 15 members, including France and the United Kingdom, Al Jazeera reported. The US draft would have extended MINURSO for another year, removed the word "referendum" from its name and made Morocco's autonomy proposal the sole basis for further negotiations. US Ambassador Mike Waltz said it was unfortunate the veto was used to preserve the letter R for referendum; Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow opposed the draft because it favoured one side and could not determine sovereignty in advance. A rival Russian draft to renew the existing mission without those changes then received only two votes in favour, one against and 11 abstentions — short of the nine needed — and a US counter-veto was also reported in coverage of the deadlock.
Source: Al Jazeera
MINURSO's mandate expired at the end of Saturday, October 31, and the UN said the following day that the mission had entered a liquidation period, with a reduced team overseeing the transfer of military equipment and other assets. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination must be respected and warned of the risk of renewed hostilities. The mission was established in 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and prepare a referendum on the territory's future, but disagreements over who could vote prevented the referendum from taking place; the ceasefire itself broke down in November 2020, when the Polisario Front said it was resuming armed struggle.
Source: Al Jazeera
The mission's wind-down: how MINURSO's liquidation began after 35 years on the ground in Western Sahara. Read the MINURSO liquidation report
What the November 10 meeting can — and cannot — do
The plenary session will provide UN member states with an opportunity to discuss the implications of the veto and reaffirm the United Nations' responsibility to pursue a solution guaranteeing the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination, SPS reported. A debate under resolution 76/262 does not overturn a veto or restore a Security Council mandate: its purpose is accountability — the vetoing power must explain itself before the full membership, and other states put their positions on record. Any new mandate for Western Sahara would still have to pass the Security Council, where the October deadlock showed neither the US nor the Russian text could command the required support.
Source: Sahara Press Service
Watch the November 10 plenary for Russia's formal explanation of its veto, the US and Moroccan responses, and how many member states speak for the Polisario position. Beyond the debate, the practical questions remain on the ground: how fast MINURSO's liquidation proceeds, whether any new Security Council text is attempted, and whether the absence of UN monitors raises tensions along the berm, where the ceasefire has already broken down once, in 2020.