UN General Assembly votes to ‘condemn’ Russia’s ‘illegal’ Ukraine annexations

‘Today it is Russia invading Ukraine. But tomorrow it could be another nation whose territory is violated. It could be you’

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia's "attempted illegal annexation" of four Ukrainian regions and called on all countries to not recognise the move.

Out of the 193-member General Assembly, 143 countries voted in favour of a resolution that also reaffirmed the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, while 35 countries, including India and China, abstained.

Wednesday's vote saw the strongest support from the General Assembly for Ukraine since Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war in the European nation began on 24 February.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, called the vote “amazing” and “a historic moment”.

Only four countries - Syria, Nicaragua, North Korea and Belarus - showed their support for Russia, voting against the resolution.

Mr Kyslytsya expressed profound regret over the negative votes, adding that the nations made “the wrong choice against the UN Charter” and urged them to reconsider their commitment to the UN’s principles.

Among the 35 countries that abstained, 19 were from Africa, including South Africa. Pakistan and Cuba also joined the list of abstainers.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Brazil were the surprise supporters of Wednesday’s resolution.

"Today it is Russia invading Ukraine. But tomorrow it could be another nation whose territory is violated. It could be you. You could be next. What would you expect from this chamber?" said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN.

“They cannot be redrawn by anyone else by force.”

European Union ambassador Olof Skoog called the vote a "great success” that sends “a resounding message to Russia that they are and remain isolated".

The vote comes after seven months into the war, Mr Putin in September proclaimed its annexation of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - after staging what Moscow called "referendums".

Ukraine and its allies have denounced the referendums as illegal and coercive.

The General Assembly vote followed a veto by Russia last month of a similar resolution in the 15-member Security Council.

Ahead of the vote, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia appealed to the Assembly, saying that the resolution was “politicised and openly provocative”.

He added that it “could destroy any and all efforts in favour of a diplomatic solution to the crisis.”

The ambassador reiterated Moscow’s claims the referendums were valid, saying “the populations of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.”

Washington led other western nations in lobbying prior to the vote, with secretary of state Antony Blinken convening a virtual meeting on Tuesday with diplomats from more than 100 countries.

US president Joe Biden said that the vote demonstrated the world “is more united and more determined than ever to hold Russia accountable for its violations.”

It is “a clear message” that “Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map” and it “cannot change borders by force,” he added.

China, one of Moscow’s key allies, said it abstained because the Asian giant did not believe the resolution will be helpful in de-escalating the situation.

“Any action taken by the General Assembly should be conducive to the de-escalation of the situation, to be conducive to the early resumption of dialogue and should be conducive to the promotion of a political solution to this crisis,” said Geng Shuang, China’s deputy UN ambassador.