UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2021) US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday the situation around the military coup in Myanmar will be high on her country's agenda during its presidency over the UN Security Council in March.
"The undemocratic coup in Burma [Myanmar] is a particular concern, and we will be monitoring that very closely in our presidency," Thomas-Greenfield said in a press briefing.
Thomas-Greenfield, who assumed her role as the US envoy on Thursday, added Washington is committed to using its "renewed engagement" at the UN headquarters in New York to influence the military to reverse the coup and restore the democratically-elected government.
She also praised the recent address of Myanmar's UN envoy U Kyaw Moe Tun at the UN General Assembly, in which he announced that he had broken ranks with the Asian country's new government and called on the international community to oppose the coup.
"I think it caught all of us off guard," Thomas-Greenfield said. "None of us expected to hear that, and I commend him for his bravery."
Myanmar's military overthrew the government and declared a year-long state of emergency on February 1, hours before the newly-elected parliament was due to convene. The nation's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was arrested alongside other senior officials, after the military accused her party of rigging the November elections.
