Russia voted to prevent the adoption of a Security Council resolution condemning the annexations of four Ukrainian regions.
Source AFP
© Vincent Isore / MAXPPP / IP3 PRESS/MAXPPP
Published on
– Modified
Link copied
Copy link
Lrussia unsurprisingly used its veto on Friday to prevent the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution condemning its annexations of four Ukrainian regions, a text which will now be submitted to the General Assembly where all States members are represented. Apart from the Russian veto, the resolution collected 10 votes in favor and four countries abstained, China, India, Brazil and Gabon. The draft text, written before Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the annexation documents for the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions on Friday, was intended to “condemn” Russia’s organization of “so-called illegal referendums” in these regions and stress that they cannot have “any validity” nor “serve as a basis for any alteration of the status of these regions”, “including any pseudo-annexation” by Russia.
This draft resolution, prepared by the United States and Albania, called on all states and other organizations “not to recognize a pseudo-annexation” of the four regions by Russia. It also demanded that Moscow “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces” from the country. “You are intentionally forcing us to use our veto so that you can launch into lyrical flights about the fact that we are abusing our rights”, accused the Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, denouncing an “openly hostile action by the West”.
China abstains
If the Russian veto was beyond doubt, eyes were turned in particular to China, officially neutral but sometimes accused by Westerners of being too conciliatory with Russia. As in February the day after Russia invaded Ukraine, China, like India, abstained on Friday. “Any action by the Security Council should promote the improvement of the situation and the resolution of the crisis, rather than intensifying conflicts and exacerbating confrontation”, commented Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun, repeating that China supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity “of all countries”.
READ ALSOPierre Servent: “The attack on Nord Stream, a message sent to the West”
“If Russia prevents the Security Council from fulfilling its responsibilities, we will ask the General Assembly, where each country has a voice, to make it clear that it is unacceptable to redraw the borders of force”, had warned just before the vote US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.