A bid by the junta ruling Myanmar to gain international recognition suffered a blow on Wednesday when the United Nations put off a decision on the rightful representative of the country, the New York Times reported.

The deferral by a powerful U.N. committee effectively denied, for now and possibly through much of 2022, attempts by the ruling junta in Myanmar to occupy seats at the United Nations.

The nine-nation Credentials Committee of the General Assembly, which is responsible for approving the diplomatic representation of each U.N. member state, held a closed meeting on the application by the Myanmar junta to replace the ambassadors of the governments they had deposed.