Middle East

US stops UN from recognizing a Palestinian state through membership

UNITED NATIONS, April 18 (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body.

It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the U.N. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.

"The United States continues to strongly support a two-state solution. This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties," Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the council.