U.N. General Assembly in historic vote assails Russia over Ukraine invasion
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday (March 2) overwhelmingly voted to reprimand Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces, an action that aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body.
The resolution, supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 members, ended a rare emergency session called by the U.N. Security Council and as Ukrainian forces battled on in the port of Kherson in the face of airstrikes and a devastating bombardment that forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
The text of the resolution "deplores" Russia's "aggression against Ukraine."
The last time Security Council convened an emergency session of the General Assembly was in 1982, according to the U.N. website.
Thirty-five members including China abstained, and five countries including Russia, Syria and Belarus voted against the resolution.
While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they carry political weight.
Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya addressed the UNGA before the vote and beseeched representatives to vote in favour of the resolution.
"Every vote in favour of the resolution and every signature of the country who voted in favour will be a historical reconfirmation of the [U.N.] charter," he said. "It is very easy, ladies and gentleman, to sign the charter in times of peace. It is the duty to sign and reconfirm and implement the charter at the time of war."
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denied that Moscow was targeting civilians and warned that the adoption of the resolution might spur further escalation.
Speaking before the vote, he said: "a peaceful scenario for Ukraine could happen if the radical elements were more concerned about preserving civilian lives in the country rather than hiding behind them. This is a call in a text, there is no reference to this call in the text to vote on, nothing is mentioned about the illegal coup in Kyiv in February 2014, wherewith the connivance of Germany, France and Poland, and with the support of the United States, the legitimately elected president of the country was overthrown."
After nearly a week, Russia has yet to achieve its aim of overthrowing Ukraine's government but has faced an unprecedented backlash from the West, whose sanctions have knocked Russia's financial system while giant multinational countries have pulled investments out of Russia.
Washington has imposed several rounds of sanctions, including against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the central bank since Russia's forces invaded Ukraine in the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.
Moscow calls the assault a "special operation."