Almost as many countries voted against Russia as in the first resolution.
(Photo: Reuters)
new York The UN General Assembly in New York showed once again that the majority of the world is behind Ukraine and not behind Russia. On Thursday, 140 of the 193 countries voted for the text introduced by Ukraine and supported by Germany, among others. 38 countries abstained, only five countries voted against.
The decision is clearly aimed at Russia. Among other things, the resolution demands “an immediate cessation of hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular all attacks on civilians and civilian objects”. Moscow must withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine immediately, and attacks on schools and hospitals, among other things, must stop.
The resolution also warns of a global hunger crisis due to the large share of grain exports from Ukraine. In addition, refugees – especially from third countries – should not be treated racistly, it says.
Apart from Russia, those voting against included Syria, Belarus, North Korea and Eritrea. As a result, the approval was only slightly below the 141 yes votes of a historically clear vote against the Russian war of aggression at the beginning of March.
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At the time, the UN Security Council was unable to agree on condemning the attack because of Russia’s veto. To get around this, the General Assembly met and condemned the war over Russia’s resistance. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock traveled to New York specifically for this purpose.
China, India and Iran abstained
This time, the western states have once again unanimously backed the new resolution. But important states such as China, India and Iran abstained. A competing draft resolution by South Africa recently caused unrest. The text was much more neutral and made no mention of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine. However, a majority in the General Assembly declined to vote on this text.
The German UN ambassador Antje Leendertse called on the UN member states to rally behind the Ukrainian resolution on Wednesday: “Today we have a duty to tackle this humanitarian catastrophe that is taking place in Ukraine and that threatens the weakest worldwide. Today we have a choice.”
Previously, Russia had clearly failed in the other important UN body, the Security Council, with its own humanitarian resolution. Of 15 countries, only China voted with Moscow, the rest of the members abstained.
From the point of view of Russia’s opponents, the resolution that has now been adopted is also intended to increase the pressure on Moscow. Whether the humanitarian resolution – which in some parts is very similar to that of a few weeks ago – will improve local aid in the crisis area remains questionable. The United Nations emphasized on Wednesday that they can bring relief supplies to Ukraine without an official decision. Unlike in the more powerful Security Council, a resolution in the General Assembly is not binding under international law.
With material from the dpa.
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