UN Security Council holds a meeting on the Iraq issue at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, March 3, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)

 Russia has asked the UN Security Council to vote Thursday on its proposal to abolish the post of International High Representative for Bosnia, and the office that goes with it, by July 2022, diplomats told AFP. 

The vote was requested for Thursday afternoon, said one of the diplomats on condition of anonymity. 

It is now up to France, which holds the presidency of the Security Council in July, to confirm the vote.

The subject has been controversial for years and has come back on the radar in recent weeks. It pits Russia against the West, and in particular against Germany, which is due to have a former minister take up the post on August 1.

Submitted to the Security Council last week, the Russian draft resolution "welcomes and agrees" to the designation of German politician Christian Schmidt as successor to current high representative Valentin Inzko of Austria. 

But the draft goes on to say that it "supports the appointment of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina [...] until 31 July 2022 with closure of the Office of the High Representative."

According to Western diplomats, Moscow may not garner the minimum nine out of 15 votes necessary to approve the resolution, without one of the five permanent members of the council resorting to their veto power to block it. 

The five permanent members are Russia, China, the US, France and Britain. At the end of June, Russia said it "categorically refused" the appointment of a former German minister of agriculture.