One year into the conflict, Ukraine finds strong support at the UN

A resolution Thursday urging “a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace” in Ukraine as soon as possible in accordance with the U.N. Charter was unanimously endorsed by the U.N. General Assembly.

Nations voted 141 to 7, with 32 abstentions, in favour of the wording that Ukraine proposed, emphasising the significance of achieving peace. Along with calling for “a cease of hostilities,” it underlined the assembly’s demand that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally remove all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.”

After the vote, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters: “Today’s vote is further evidence that it is not just the West that supports Ukraine, the support is far broader, and it will only continue to be reinforced and to be solidified.”

To commemorate the anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the U.N. General Assembly’s special emergency session was scheduled. It began on Wednesday and ran through Thursday before the vote. Kuleba requested support from the world community for his people.

Kuleba stated during the discussion that “we need to deliver a strong and clear message that the values of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states should serve as the foundation for the process of peaceful resolution.”

“We are still holding onto hope today. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed her satisfaction with the outcome by saying, “We refuse to give up on the potential of diplomacy, the power of discussion, and the urgency of peace.”

The discussion was attended by 75 nations, including Russia.

Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador, urged nations to reject the resolution because it lacked substance and was “divorced from reality.” Belarus, a close supporter of Moscow, suggested two changes to the text: one would have removed the phrases “full scale invasion of Ukraine” and “aggression by the Russian Federation,” while the other would have asked nations not to transfer weapons to the area of hostilities. Yet the assembly overwhelmingly rejected them.

Moscow, according to Nebenzia, is not preventing peace.

“We are prepared to look for a sincere and lasting diplomatic settlement. This is something that we have reiterated repeatedly,” he said. “Our adversaries still harbour the hopeless delusion that they can defeat a nuclear power,” the author writes.

Josep Borrell, the head of international strategy for the European Union, claimed that throughout the entire week, Russia tried to obstruct and derail U.N. initiatives.

“It has failed yet again. We can see that in the voting clearly,” he told reporters, accompanied by a large number of the EU’s foreign ministers who had travelled to New York for the meeting. “On the Russian side, there are a few votes that reaffirm that in the eyes of the world, the aggression against Ukraine needs to cease — and it needs to stop now and open the path to a just, sustainable, and all-encompassing peace.”

Belarus, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Syria were among the nations that backed Moscow’s stance; these nations have largely supported Russia since the war’s inception last year.

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. General Assembly has passed five further resolutions, all of which had broad support. China voted with Russia on resolutions requesting Moscow’s suspension from the U.N. Human Rights Council and urging for Moscow to make amends to Ukraine while abstaining on three of them. China continued to abstain on Thursday.

China’s representative pleaded with nations not to arm the combatants, days after NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern that Beijing may be considering giving Russia guns.

Deputy Ambassador Dai Bing stated during the discussion that “hard facts have supplied abundant proofs that delivering arms will not bring peace” one year into the Ukraine crisis. “Fueling the fire will only make tensions worse. The cost to regular people will only increase if the conflict is extended and expanded.

When questioned about it by a reporter, Kuleba responded that it would be a grave error for any nation to give Russia arms.

So by arming Russia, that nation supports aggression and flagrant violations of the United Nations Charter, Kuleba stated. China has been actively defending the charter, particularly the principle of territorial integrity, as of late.

This week, China’s senior diplomat visited Moscow, fuelling rumours that the two partners are talking about a Chinese peace plan.

Dai informed the General Assembly that “China would shortly release a position paper on the political resolution of the Ukraine situation.” According to some sources, it might happen as soon as this Friday.

The U.N. Security Council will convene on Friday, the anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. When word spread that Russian troops had crossed the border into Ukraine a year ago, members were in a meeting attempting to stop the start of hostilities.

VOA