Two Russia-linked decisions before 13 July 2020

What did the days leading up to 13 July 2020 show about Russia's position abroad? Two reports from that week point in different directions.

On 8 July 2020, Lithuania banned the Russian state-owned television network RT. The stated reason was the network's connection with Dmitry Kiselyov, who is sanctioned by the European Union for his role in the 2014 Ukrainian crisis. The ban rested on the sanctions link to Kiselyov, and so tied a Baltic broadcasting decision to the EU's response to events in Ukraine.

On 11 July 2020, the United Nations Security Council approved aid deliveries to northwest Syria through one border crossing with Turkey. The authorisation for the six-year-long humanitarian operation had ended a day earlier. Russia and China abstained on the vote, which was the fifth attempt that week to approve the aid.

The two items are separate. In one, a neighbouring state acted against a broadcaster because of EU sanctions. In the other, Russia abstained rather than blocking a resolution, after four earlier attempts that week had failed to secure approval.