The UN General Assembly today begins deliberations on the recent illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine by Russia. At the end of the session, which could drag on until Wednesday due to the large number of speakers, the UN body, the largest with 193 member states, is to vote on a resolution condemning Moscow.
Russia had previously advocated a secret ballot – apparently in the hope of a better result. High-ranking diplomats describe this as an unprecedented operation that is unlikely to receive sufficient support. Just a few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin completed the annexations of the partially occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson with his signature.
As expected, a condemning resolution in the UN Security Council tabled by the US and other countries was blocked by a veto by Moscow. The process then moved to the General Assembly. According to diplomats, it needs the support of two-thirds of the countries voting for it to be passed by the body.
Resolution: Referendum illegal
In a draft resolution available to the German Press Agency, Russia’s actions are condemned as aggression and “violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. The referendums are illegal, have “no validity under international law and do not form a basis for changing the status of these regions of Ukraine,” it said. Russia is violating the UN charter, must reverse its actions and withdraw from Ukraine.
A clear majority is expected when the UN General Assembly votes, but the text will have to measure itself against two previous results: In March, the assembly rejected Russia’s invasion with a historic majority of 141 votes. In 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, 100 member states committed to a resolution emphasizing Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Western diplomats stressed that every UN member country must have a self-interest in condemning Russia in order not to become a victim of illegal annexation by a neighboring state. On the other hand, observers have been seeing war fatigue in a number of countries, especially in Africa and Latin America, for some time now. Some of them find that the Ukraine war distracts from other regional conflicts and global crises and blocks progress.
