Updated

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a deal that will give a Security Council seat to Italy in 2017 and the Netherlands in 2018.

The two countries agreed to split the two-year term after neither received the two-thirds majority needed to win the seat outright and were deadlocked 95 to 95.

The General Assembly formalized the agreement Thursday by voting Italy into the seat for a one-year term in 2017. The body will meet next spring to vote on the Netherlands for 2018.

The General Assembly on Tuesday chose four new council member — Ethiopia and Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan — into two-year terms starting Jan. 1. But after five rounds of voting, the Netherlands and Italy of the Western group of countries were deadlocked for the fifth seat.