An overwhelming majority of countries condemn the Russian invasion at the UN

With an overwhelming majority, the UN General Assembly on Wednesday approved a resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Russia immediately withdraw its troops.

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Of the 193 member states of the United Nations, 141 supported the text, while only five voted against: Russia itself, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea.

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Meanwhile, 35 countries opted for abstention, including China, Iran, India and South Africa, and several Latin American nations such as Cuba, Bolivia, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

A dozen member states did not participate in the vote, most prominently Venezuelawhose right to vote in the General Assembly has been suspended as a result of non-payment of their contributions to the United Nations budget.

The resolution, which is not binding, “deplores” the Russian aggression against Ukraine and “demands” Moscow to put an end to it and immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the neighboring country.

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What’s more, criticizes the role of Belarus in the war and demands that Russia reverse its recognition of the independence of the self-declared breakaway Ukrainian republics.

The General Assembly calls for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and asks both Moscow and Kiev to commit to dialogue and negotiation.

An almost full chamber stood up to applaud the approval of the resolution by the General Assembly, which has been meeting since Monday in a special emergency session after Russia vetoed a similar text in the Security Council.

In response to this blockade, the West went to the General Assembly – where there are no vetoes – to denounce Moscow’s actions and, above all, show its isolation on the international scene.

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Russian isolation

“We have shown that Russia is isolated and alone and that the cost will continue to rise until Russia relents,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield celebrated after the vote.

Along the same lines, the representative of the European Union (EU), Olof Skoog, said that “the Russian government is increasingly alone” and stressed that while “Russia has chosen aggression”, the rest of the world “has chosen peace”.

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Effectively, Russia was practically alone in its opposition and only convinced four governments to accompany it in the “no”including that of Belarus -criticized in the text itself- and that of Syria -whom Moscow has firmly backed in its war-.

Other countries that have so far preferred to maintain a more or less equidistant position regarding the war in Ukraine opted for abstention, in the case of China, which justified its vote by considering that the resolution did not take into account the entire context of the conflict and the policies from the West.

Meanwhile, the case of the United Arab Emirates drew attention, which last week abstained in the Security Council and today voted “yes” to the condemnation of Russia in the Assembly, a move that, according to diplomatic sources, responds to the fact that the country He feared then that Moscow would veto his proposal on Yemen that went ahead on Monday.

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The Russian delegation, for its part, was grateful that a quarter of the members of the organization did not support the resolution“despite incredible and unprecedented pressure from the US and its allies.”

For Moscow, the text will only serve to embolden the Ukrainian “radicals”, whom Russian representatives accused again today of being responsible for the conflict and of using civilians as human shields.

a clear message

For the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, the General Assembly has sent a “loud and clear” message on the need to stop hostilities and bet on diplomacy.

“I will continue to do everything in my power to contribute to an immediate cessation of hostilities and urgent peace negotiations. People in Ukraine desperately need peace and people all over the world demand itGuterres told reporters.

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The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted in a statement the “overwhelming majority” of countries that today condemned Russia’s “indiscriminate attacks” and urged the international community to work to “ensure that those responsible for war crimes are brought to justice.” Justice”.

MARIO VILLAR – EFE