( CNN ) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to send 2,000 additional troops to Ivory Coast , bringing the total mission there to more than 11,000 troops and police . The vote originally had been scheduled for Tuesday , but Security Council diplomats said it was delayed because Russia had objections to the `` political '' language in the draft resolution . U.N. officials requested up to 2,000 more peacekeepers in early January . The political standoff in the country has raised fears of a renewal of the bloodshed suffered after a civil war broke out in 2002 . More than 25,000 Ivorians have fled to neighboring Liberia since the current crisis began , the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported last week . Meanwhile , the African Union on Wednesday blamed Ivory Coast 's self-declared president , Laurent Gbagbo , for the failure of talks so far to resolve the crisis in the cocoa-producing West African nation . `` There had been progress in the talks , but Gbagbo went back on his earlier agreement to remove the blockade leading to and from the Golf Hotel where ( President-elect ) Alassane Ouattara is staying , '' said a spokesman for Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga , the AU mediator . `` Gbagbo has to step down to make way for Ouattara , who legitimately won the election , '' said Odinga 's representative , Salim Lone , speaking for the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States . `` The request to remove the blockade was because the AU argued that it 's difficult to have discussions with a prisoner , '' Lone said . Ouattara is holed up in the hotel in Abidjan under the protection of U.N. peacekeepers . The United Nations has blamed Gbagbo 's supporters for a string of attacks on U.N. vehicles and troops in the past week . An independent electoral commission declared Ouattara the winner of the country 's presidential election in November , but Gbagbo , the incumbent , has refused to step aside . Odinga is now leaving Ivory Coast for Ghana , Burkina Faso and Mali . He 'll meet the heads of state of each country to discuss the Ivory Coast crisis , Lone said , denying that Odinga had `` given up on ... finding a solution to the crisis . `` He 's still committed to the African Union and ECOWAS will to first and foremost find a peaceable solution to the crisis . Use of force will be a last resort , '' Lone said . The Economic Community of West African States has threatened to use `` legitimate force '' to remove Gbagbo , who met Monday with African Union mediator Odinga . Gbagbo 's foreign minister , Alcide Djedje , said earlier this month that the peacekeepers are `` complicit with the rebellion '' and that the sitting government has `` no more confidence in the U.N. '' The West African nation was wracked by civil war from 2002 to 2007 , when a settlement left the country divided between north and south . The 2010 elections came with high expectations that they would open a new chapter in the country 's history . CNN 's Lillian Leposo contributed to this report .
NEW : The United Nations votes to send 2,000 more troops was unanimous . November : The self - declared president reneged on a promise to end a blockade of his rival . Sources say Alassane Ouattara won the presidential election in November . Incumbent Laurent Gbagbo decided to step down .