UN General Assembly Prepares to Blame Russia for Invasion of Ukraine

A picture of the United Nations Headquarters building with the UN logo on it in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations General Assembly is preparing to rebuke Russia on Wednesday for its invasion of Ukraine and demand that Moscow stop the fighting and withdraw its military forces in a move aimed at isolating Russia diplomatically at the world body. .

By Tuesday evening, diplomats said, nearly half of the General Assembly’s 193 members had signed off on the draft resolution’s list of sponsors ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The text denounces Russian “aggression” against Ukraine.

It is similar to a draft resolution that Russia rejected in the 15-member Security Council on Friday. No country has a veto in the General Assembly and Western diplomats expect the resolution to be adopted, which needs the support of two-thirds.

“The Russian war represents a new reality. It requires each of us to take a firm and responsible decision and to stand by,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Barbock told the General Assembly on Tuesday.

While General Assembly resolutions are not binding, they carry political weight.

The draft text calls for “the Russian Federation to immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”

Dozens of countries are expected to formally abstain from the vote or not participate at all. In two votes by the 15-nation Security Council on the Ukraine crisis last week, China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstained.

“We must leave space for an external diplomatic slope,” UAE Ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said on Tuesday. “The channels must remain open and those countries that abstained have those channels with President Putin and will use them to help and support in any way they can.”

The General Assembly vote will come at the end of a rare emergency extraordinary session of the Council that the Security Council convened on Sunday. Russia could not veto this move because it was a procedural matter. Read more

More than 100 countries will speak at the session before the vote.

The UN’s actions mirror what happened in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region.

The Security Council voted on a draft resolution opposing a referendum on the status of Crimea and urging countries not to recognize it. It was rejected by Russia.

Then the General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the referendum invalid. He received 100 votes in favour, 11 against, and 58 official abstentions, while 24 countries did not participate.

Reported by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Mary Milliken and Richard Boleyn

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