The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the largest opposition party, suggested yesterday that Mozambique should "reformulate" its neutral position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on the day the country begins its term on the UN Security Council.

"Renamo urges the government of Mozambique to reformulate its position in relation to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, having been elected by expressive votes from countries that in general condemned the invasion of a sovereign country," said Ossufo Momade, president of Renamo, in a message on his Facebook page and quoted by Lusa.

Mozambique was among the countries that abstained from voting on three resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

For Renamo, the fact that Mozambique remains neutral in relation to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could be synonymous with "agreement and complicity" with the invading country, in this case Russia.

"Preceding with the neutral position leads to an assumption of agreement and complicity, which could ultimately be counterproductive with the vote of confidence given to us," said Ossufo Momade.

The largest opposition party also called on Mozambique to use its position on the Security Council to "promote and defend human rights, the fight against terrorism, threats to international peace and security", as well as the fight against "global warming and climate change".

Mozambique today began its term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the period 2023 and 2024, after being elected on June 9.

This body, created to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations, has five permanent members - the United States of America, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and China - and 10 non-permanent members.

Every year, the General Assembly elects five out of a total of 10 non-permanent members, who, according to a UN resolution, are distributed as follows: five Africans and Asians, one from Eastern Europe, two from Latin America, two from Western Europe and other states.

The UN said today that it had confirmed that 6,919 civilians had been killed and 11,075 injured in Ukraine since the invasion by Russia.

However, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that these figures are much lower than the real ones, especially in the regions where the fighting is most intense and where the monitoring work of the organization's observers is most difficult.

The military offensive launched on February 24 last year by Russia also caused more than 14 million people to flee - 6.5 million internally displaced and more than 7.8 million to European countries - according to the latest UN figures, which classify this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and housing.

The Russian invasion - justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin by the need to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia's security - has been condemned by the international community in general, which has responded by sending arms to Kiev and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.