The United Kingdom has signed on to an initiative urging UN Security Council permanent members to withhold their vetoes on matters concerning mass atrocities, such as genocide, countries leading the push said Monday.

The initiative, first proposed by Mexico and France in 2015, now has a total of 128 countries behind it, French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot and Mexican counterpart Roberto Velasco said in a joint statement.

It is now just one country shy of reaching a two-thirds threshold of UN member states.

The Security Council has been paralysed on many issues in recent years amid deep divisions between the five veto-wielding permanent members: France, UK, Russia, China, and the United States.

“By supporting this political declaration, states are demonstrating their commitment to ensuring that the Security Council can fully exercise its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security,” said Barrot and Velasco.

In May, a diplomatic source told AFP that France was hoping to reach the two-thirds majority before this year’s UN General Assembly, which kicks off this week.

Even if adopted with a two-thirds majority, the resolution would be non-binding.

Officials nonetheless hope to make it more politically difficult for a permanent member to use its veto in cases of such dire emergencies.

AFP