The 193-member UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a motion demanding the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. On Thursday (23 February), the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, February 22, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at the beginning of the session and criticized Moscow’s actions as a “assault on our common conscience.”
The UN head also spoke of a further escalation of the conflict and cited “irresponsible” military actions near nuclear power plants. As well as “indirect threats” of using nuclear weapons.
It’s time to get out from under the abyss, Guterres declared.
The assembly discussed a motion supporting a “just and enduring peace,” which is supported by Kiev. Its allies while conflict in Ukraine continues.
Russia has no veto power in the UN General Assembly, unlike the UN Security Council. The assembly has passed a number of resolutions criticizing the war since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February of last year. But they are not enforceable under international law.
141 of the 193 UN members voted in favor of a resolution in March of last year requesting that Russia leave Ukraine “immediately.” In Geneva, the assembly resolved to suspend Russia’s participation in the UN Human Rights Council in April by a far slimmer margin of 93 votes.
The “illegal annexations” of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia by Russia were denounced by 143 member nations in October.
The phrasing in the draft is less direct than Ukraine would have preferred because Kyiv and its allies are now expecting that a sizable majority of UN states. It will endorse the non-binding resolution to show it has the support of the international community.
The resolution, which emphasizes “the need to achieve, as quickly as possible, a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine. In conformity with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” has the support of about 60 nations.
The proposed resolution asks for an immediate halt to hostilities. Reiterates the UN’s “support to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Also, “immediate, total, and unconditional withdrawal of all of Russia’s military forces from the territory of Ukraine” is demanded.
Never before in history has the boundary between right and wrong been so distinct: a nation only wants to survive. Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, warned the crowd, “The other wants to kill and destroy.
Josep Borrell, the top ambassador for the EU, vehemently refuted those assertions, saying, “This war against Ukraine is not ‘a European matter’. The conflict is not between “the West and Russia.” The entire world is affected by this illegitimate conflict, including the North, the South, the East, and the West.
“If we do not denounce and put an end to Russia’s actions in Ukraine today. The likelihood that any other nation, anywhere in the globe, will follow suit will increase.”
China, India and more than 30 other countries have abstained during previous UN votes to support Ukraine.
While Russia’s war in Ukraine has united the West, it also revealed a fragmentation of the global order. An increasing ‘West versus rest’ divide, as a recent survey states.
More than 80 countries are scheduled to address the assembly, which is expected to vote on the draft resolution on Ukraine on Thursday or Friday.
