Deepening global isolation, Russia faced urgent calls on Monday to end its “unprovoked” and “unjustified” attack on Ukraine as 193 members of the UN General Assembly held an extraordinary debate over the invasion of the ex-Soviet state. Of.
During a rare emergency special session, the assembly held just the 11th meeting in its history, Russia defended its decision to invade its neighbor as a nation after urging peace from the forum.
On the other hand, the United States said it was expelling 12 “intelligence operatives” from the country at Russia’s UN mission for “engaging in espionage activities” that are prejudicial to our national security.
Inside the General Assembly Hall, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requested: “The fighting in Ukraine must stop. Enough is enough.”
Representatives from more than 100 countries are expected to speak over three days as the global body decides whether it will support a resolution that calls for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine immediately.
A vote is expected on Wednesday, and it must reach the two-thirds threshold to pass. The resolution is non-binding, but it will serve as a marker of how isolated Russia is. Its authors expect it to get more than 100 votes in favor – although countries including Syria, China, Cuba and India are expected to support or abstain from Russia. Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia told reporters: “We do not feel isolated. He reiterated Moscow’s position, categorically rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies, that its military operations in eastern Ukraine. It was launched to protect residents of different regions. “The hostility was spread by Ukraine against its own residents,” he said during his address.
Pointing to such regimes in Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Nicaragua – and of course Russia – diplomats said the vote is also being seen as a barometer of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise. has been
“If Ukraine does not survive, the UN will not survive. There is no confusion,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergei Kislitsya.
‘I am scared’
During an emotional speech, what Kyslytsya said was the last text message from a Russian soldier before his mother was killed.
“Mom, I’m in Ukraine. I’m afraid,” Kyslytsya said, reading the messages. “They call us fascists. Mom, it’s too hard.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Moscow has requested “self-defense” under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
But Western countries and the United Nations itself have rejected it outright. They accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, which requires members to abstain from threats or use of force to resolve the crisis.
Addressing the General Assembly, British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the war was “unprovoked, unjustified”.
The resolution “will have a message to the world: that the rules we created together must be defended,” she said. “Because otherwise, who could be next?”
China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun warned that “nothing can be gained by starting a new Cold War,” but did not indicate how Beijing would vote.
The move to hold an emergency session was prompted by Russia using its veto on Friday to block a similarly worded Security Council resolution.
Council members can turn to the General Assembly if the five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – fail to agree to work together to keep the peace.
‘hostile act’
There is no veto power in the General Assembly, which held a similar vote in 2014 condemning the annexation of Crimea by Russia and received 100 votes in support.
The Security Council held a separate emergency meeting on Monday on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that 4 million people were feared displaced in the fighting.
Nebenzia broke the news of 12 expelled diplomats during a press conference, saying he had heard dozens had been asked to leave the United States by March 7. A US spokesman said the move was “in development for several months”, meaning it was not directly related to the war.
In response, Moscow called the expulsion a “hostile act.”
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