Only Syria, the Security Council's only Arab member, is expected to abstain from the vote.

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When the government failed to bow to its demands, it said it would abstain from the vote.

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Many campaigners believe that since the US and Russia are against the compromise, the EU might withdraw their proposal and abstain from the vote.

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Mike Nesbitt said his party would abstain from a vote because while the party would not support fracking if there were any evidence that damage would be done to the environment, closing down the exploration would have "reputational damage on Northern Ireland PLC".

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Or will he do it more disingenuously, as former UN Ambassador John Bolton speculated in the Wall Street Journal last week, by having the United States abstain from an approving vote by the United Nations Security Council.

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European nations also persuaded the U.S. to abstain from a United Nations Security Council vote last year that sent the issue of Darfur, Sudan, to the International Criminal Court.

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The United States plans to abstain from the U.N. vote, a move that will allow the Pan Am families to receive compensation while not conflicting with keeping U.S. sanctions in place.

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The French are still reeling from the German decision to abstain, along with Russia and China, from the UN Security Council vote on Libya.

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