UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 8 -- The First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) rejected on Friday a draft decision that would potentially have it convened in Geneva or Vienna in 2020.
The draft decision was prompted by concerns among some delegations that the United States is failing to abide by its host country obligations when issuing visas to UN member state representatives.
The committee, also known as the Disarmament and International Security Committee, rejected the draft decision "Improving the effectiveness of the work of the First Committee" by a recorded vote of 18 in favor to 69 against, with 72 abstentions.
If the issues raised in the latest report of the committee on Relations with the Host Country are not resolved in due time, the UNGA would consider convening the First Committee's next session in Geneva or Vienna.
It would also have requested the secretary-general to report by Feb. 1, 2020 on the U.S. compliance with its obligations under the 1947 Headquarters Agreement with regard to ensuring unfettered access to the New York headquarters by representatives of all member states without exception.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the UN, said early last month that Russia proposed moving sessions of the First Committee of the UNGA to Vienna or Geneva from 2020.