UN General Assembly Approves Resolution in Support of Ukraine

With 141 votes for, 7 against and 32 abstentions, member states supported the text presented by Ukraine, stressing the importance of achieving peace. The resolution also reiterates the assembly's request that Russia “withdraws immediately, completely and unconditionally all its military forces from Ukraine's territory to its internationally recognised borders, as well as calls for halting fighting”.

Today's “Vote is another evidence that it is not only the West that supports Ukraine; support is much broader, and will continue to consolidate and strengthen”, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told reporters after the vote.

The UN General Assembly's special emergency session, which opened Wednesday and continued operations until Thursday, when it peaked with the vote, was called to mark the anniversary of the start of the Russian attack. Mr. Culeba called on the international community to stand by his country.

“We must send a strong and clear message that the UN Charter, including the principles of the sovereignty equality and territorial integrity of the countries, should serve as the basis for a peaceful settlement process”, Mr. Kuleba said during the debate.

Today, we refuse to give up hope. We refuse to give up the potential of diplomacy, the power of dialogue and emergency peace”, said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Grenfield, welcoming the outcome of the vote.

75 countries participated, including Russia.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on countries to vote against the resolution, saying he lacked substance and that he was divorced “with reality”. Moscow's Allied country, Belarus, proposed two amendments in text to one to exclude the use of words “frontal attacks on Ukraine” as well as “aggression from the Russian Federation”, and the other to call on countries not to send weapons to the conflict area. But the proposed amendments were overturned by vote by the assembly.

The Russian ambassador insisted Moscow is not hindering peace.

“We are ready to seek a serious and long-term diplomatic solution. We have stated this in many cases”, he said. Our opponents have not yet overcome their futile illusions that they can defeat a nuclear power”.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Russia has been trying all week to undermine and disrupt UN efforts.

“Serish has failed. We see this clearly at the” vote, he told reporters, while around it were the EU foreign ministers traveling to New York for this meeting. “On Russia's side are a small handful of votes. This confirms that, in the eyes of the world, aggression against Ukraine should stop and stop now and open the door to fair, stable and inclusive peace”.

Countries supporting Russia's position are almost the same as they have supported since the beginning of the war last year: Belarus, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Syria.

There have been five other resolutions adopted at the General Assembly since the beginning of the Russian attack, all with strong support for Ukraine. China abstained for three of the resolutions calling for the suspension of Moscow's membership in the UN Human Rights Council, as well as for Moscow to pay damages to Ukraine. On Thursday, China abstained again.

Just a few days after the leader NATO Jens Stoltenberg warned that Beijing may be considering the possibility of supply weapons to Russia, China's envoy urged countries not to arm the warring parties.

“A year from the crisis in Ukraine, brutal facts have provided numerous evidence that sending weapons will not bring peace”, Chinese Deputy Ambassador Dai Bing said during the debate. “The fire station will only increase tensions. The duration and expansion of the conflict will only make ordinary people pay an even higher price”.

When asked by a journalist on the issue, Ukrainian Minister Kuleba said it would be an extraordinary mistake if any country were to offer weapons to Russia.

“Passed providing Russia with weapons, that country helps aggression and flagrant violation of the UN Charter”, Mr. Kuleba said. “So far, China has stood in defense of the Charter and in particular the principle of territorial integrity”.

The Chinese top diplomat was in Moscow this week, thus feeding speculation that the two Allied countries are discussing a Chinese peace proposal.

“Kina will soon circulate a document with the attitude for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine”, Mr. Dai told the General Assembly. According to some reports, the proposal could be made known as Friday.

The Security Council meets on Friday on the day the attack, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is filling a year. A year ago, the Security Council was at a working session discussing how to prevent conflict when it was announced that Russian forces had crossed the border to Ukrainian territory. / VOA/