The United States exercised its veto right to block a UN Security Council resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine, Paralel.Az reports citing TASS.

A total of 12 countries, including Russia and China, voted in favor of the document, while two countries — Switzerland and the United Kingdom — abstained. The United States was the only country that voted against the proposed resolution.

On April 4, Malta, which holds the UN Security Council presidency this month, granted Palestine’s request to resume its UN membership process. The Palestinian diplomatic mission attached to its request letters of support from the group of Arab Nations at the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement. Another annex to the document contains the list of 140 countries that have already recognized Palestine as a sovereign country.