An overwhelming majority of countries supported this Wednesday at the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) to condemn Russia's illegal endorsements for "the illegal annexation attempt" of four partially occupied regions of Ukraine.
The resolution urges all countries not to recognize this move by Moscow, which affects the territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, thus reinforcing Russia's international diplomatic isolation since it invaded its neighboring country last February.
Once again, the result was overwhelming. Vladimir Putin confirmed once again what some call the pariah front of regimes. Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua were firm in their alliance with Moscow. Facing the five of no and the 35 abstentions (including China, India, South Africa or Cuba), a total of 143 countries, of the 193 that make up the UN General Assembly, reaffirmed "their commitment to sovereignty, independence , the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, which extend to its territorial waters”, according to the approved text.
It happens that Russia can say that what is one more stripe for the tiger. The Kremlin has twice exercised the right of veto in the Security Council, the legal arm of the United Nations whose resolutions have legal value, unlike those of the assembly. The previous blockade, due to the request for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, at the beginning of the war, also reached the highest UN body, with another defeat for Moscow. Who cares, months later the invaders are still in Ukraine and bombing civilians.
On this occasion, the recourse to the assembly was adopted to once again put Russia on the ropes on the great international stage of diplomacy, once the Council stopped the adoption of a text in which, in addition to reversing with referendums, he was required to withdraw his troops without conditions.
After the vote on Wednesday, and already outside the room, the Ukrainian representative, Sergiy Kyslytsya, was impressed by the achievement before the press. Next to her, the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, stressed that this result shows that "Russia cannot intimidate the world."
Thomas-Greenfield was the promoter of taking this step. “Today it is Russia invading Ukraine. But tomorrow it may be another country that sees its territory violated. It can be anyone. The next ones can be you. What do we expect from this Assembly”, she posed before the vote took place.
Putin announced in late September the annexation of the four regions, after mounting a referendum that Ukraine and its allies denounced as illegal and carried out under armed coercion.
In his argument to derail the resolution, Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow's UN representative, argued that the text "was politicized and was very provocative." He added that this path "can destroy any efforts for a diplomatic solution to the crisis."
As on every occasion, China maintained the equidistance, which is the way of trying to disguise its support for Russia. "Any initiative of the General Assembly must lead to the de-escalation of the situation, it must lead to the recovery of the dialogue as soon as possible and to the option of a political solution," said Ambassador Geng Shuang.
In addition to the two occasions in which vetoes have ended in severe defeats for Russia in the General Assembly, there have been two others with similar results. An overwhelming majority of countries blamed Moscow for the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and suspended Russia from membership of the UN Human Rights Council.
