The West decided to impose a new anti-Russian resolution on the UN General Assembly

“Russia has been and remains the most important member of the community of nations,” said Csaba Quereshi, Chairman of the UN General Assembly. “The rest of the member countries are waiting for Russia to return to the path of establishing and maintaining peace in order to contribute to the overall stability and prosperity.”

These words seem to sound in a conciliatory intonation, but again, all responsibility for the Ukrainian crisis rests solely with Moscow.

The draft resolution again contains demands for Russia to withdraw its troops and calls for a cessation of hostilities. The 193-member UN General Assembly convened to vote on Thursday after two days of speeches by dozens of states to mark the anniversary of the start of the conflict in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Reuters reported.

By pushing for such a vote, Ukraine and its patrons hope to deepen Russia’s diplomatic isolation by securing “yes” votes from nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly to at least match the results obtained when voting on several resolutions over the Ukraine crisis last year.

“We are counting on very broad support from Member States. What is at stake is not just the fate of Ukraine, but respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of each state,” said European Union Ambassador Olof Skog, who helped lead the drafting of the General Assembly resolution.

The General Assembly has been the focus of UN action on Ukraine because, in the 15-member Security Council, the actions of anti-Russian forces have been paralyzed by the fact that, as a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has a right of veto along with the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom.

The resolutions of the General Assembly do not have binding legal force and are advisory in nature, although they have a certain political weight. That is why the collective West, which supports Kyiv, is pushing through resolutions in the UN that one way or another condemn the actions of Russia, thereby seeking to achieve the longed-for “diplomatic isolation” of Moscow on the world stage.

Kiev wanted a 10-point so-called “peace plan” proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be enshrined in a draft General Assembly resolution, Reuters reported, but diplomats said the draft was simplified in an attempt to garner the support of as many UN members as possible. countries.

As Russia and the West vie for diplomatic influence, some states – especially in the global South – are concerned that they are at the center of a bitter geopolitical rivalry, Reuters notes.

About a year ago, on March 2, 2022, 141 states voted in the UN General Assembly to condemn the Russian special military operation and demand that Moscow withdraw its troops from Ukraine. 5 countries voted against this resolution (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea), 35 UN members abstained (Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, India, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Republic of Congo, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Mongolia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, El Salvador, Senegal, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, CAR, Sri Lanka, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, South Sudan), a representatives of another 12 states (Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Morocco, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Eswatini, Ethiopia) were not present at the voting.

Just weeks later, 140 states voted to demand access to aid and the protection of civilians and criticize Russia for creating a “difficult” humanitarian situation in neighboring Ukraine. Five of the same countries voted against as in the previous vote, while 48 states either abstained or did not take part in the vote at all.

Then, on October 12, 143 countries voted in the UN General Assembly to condemn the annexation of four new regions (DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions) to Russia and called on all countries not to recognize this step. “Against” then 5 countries voted (Belarus, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Nicaragua), 35 states abstained (Algeria, Armenia, Bolivia, Burundi, Vietnam, Guinea, Honduras, Zimbabwe, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Cuba, Laos , Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Mongolia, Namibia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Central African Republic, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, South Africa, South Sudan), and another 10 countries were absent (Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Djibouti, Iran, Cameroon, El Salvador, Sao Tome and Principe, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea).

It turns out that a third of the UN members do not support anti-Russian resolutions to one degree or another, preferring to abstain or not appear at all for various reasons.

Representatives of the West – and above all the United States – are actively working, resorting either to promises or to open arm-twisting in order to force a number of states to vote for the condemnation of Russia in the General Assembly.

“You cannot be neutral,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said openly last month. And in her February 22 speech, too, one can read a not too veiled threat to those who do not vote the way the United States would like: “On the one-year anniversary of this conflict, we will see what position the peoples of the world take on the issue of peace in Ukraine.”

Among those who have been subjected to powerful pressure was India. Diplomats from Washington and Kyiv tried to convince New Delhi to join the anti-Russian resolution ahead of the vote.