UN General Assembly: Urgent Session on Ukraine | tagesschau.de

Status: 02/28/2022 00:34

The UN resolution condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine was blocked in the UN Security Council in Moscow. Today the UN General Assembly is deliberating. The West hopes that Russia will be isolated.

The United Nations General Assembly will hold a rare emergency session to consider Russia’s war against Ukraine.

With a large majority, the UN Security Council voted to forward the resolution to the UN General Assembly: Eleven countries voted yes, Russia voted against – China abstained along with India and the United Arab Emirates. “Russia cannot prevent the world from coming together to condemn its invasion of Ukraine,” said British Ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsia asked for the emergency meeting to be held on the basis of the “Union for Peace” resolution. This was initiated by the USA and adopted in November 1950 to circumvent vetoes by the then Soviet Union during the Korean War. The resolution gives the UN General Assembly the power to hold emergency meetings when the Security Council is unable to act due to a lack of consensus among its permanent members – the US, Russia, China, Britain and France – who have veto powers.

Consultations probably several days

Western countries are hoping that as many of the 193 member countries as possible will condemn Russia’s war of aggression at the meeting in the afternoon and thus make visible the global isolation of the Russian leadership.

Because of the large number of speeches, the deliberations of the General Assembly are likely to last several days. This is only the eleventh emergency meeting in over 70 years.

The previous text of the resolution, which is available to the dpa news agency, condemns Russia’s aggression “in the strongest possible terms” and affirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the independence and unity of Ukraine. Russia is being asked to withdraw immediately and to return to the Minsk Agreement. According to diplomats, the text will be adjusted again for a vote in the general assembly.

Vote of the General Assembly not binding under international law

Unlike in the Security Council, an acceptance by the body is not binding under international law and has more of a symbolic meaning. The text had already been voted on by the UN Security Council on Friday. As expected, Russia used its veto there.

Western diplomats nevertheless rated the vote as a success in the attempt to isolate Moscow internationally, because Moscow’s strategic partner China abstained and there were no other dissenting votes. UN Ambassador Zhang Jun also remained neutral on Sunday: “China supports and encourages all diplomatic efforts conducive to a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and welcomes the earliest possible direct dialogue and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine,” he said .

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