UNITED NATIONS\u2014 The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that \u201cdemands\u201d Russia \u201cimmediately\u201d withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow\u2019s<\/p>\n
invasion by a vast majority of the world\u2019s nations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 United Nations member states voted for the non-binding resolution.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world is rejecting Russia\u2019s lies,\u201d US President Joe Biden said in a statement later Wednesday. \u201cRussia is responsible for the devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis that we are<\/p>\n
watching unfold in Ukraine in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five \u2014 Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia \u2014 voted against it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The resolution \u201cdeplores\u201d the invasion of Ukraine \u201cin the strongest terms\u201d and condemns President Vladimir Putin\u2019s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise, and came as Putin\u2019s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded \u201cself-defense\u201d under Article 51 of the UN Charter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog said the vote was \u201cnot just about Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is about defending an international order based on rules we all have signed up to,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the General Assembly\u2019s message was \u201cloud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cEnd hostilities in Ukraine \u2014 now. Silence the guns \u2014 now,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse. The ticking clock is a time bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Some delegations chose to place stuffed animals on their tables during the session \u2014 a stark visual reminder of the conflict\u2019s devastating impact on children.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The text of the resolution \u2014 led by European countries in coordination with Ukraine \u2014 has undergone numerous changes in recent days.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It no longer \u201ccondemns\u201d the invasion as initially expected, but instead \u201cdeplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation\u2019s aggression against Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war,\u201d the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
She accused Russia of \u201cpreparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. That includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva Convention,\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas-Greenfield said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Ambassador Valentin Rybakov blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as \u201cthe worst example of economic and financial terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And he followed other Russian allies such as Syria in condemning the \u201cdouble standards\u201d of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan in recent decades.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia. Colombia railed against any return to \u201cempire,\u201d while Albania wondered: \u201cWho will be next?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Japan and New Zealand led condemnation from Asia, but the continent\u2019s giants \u2014 China, India and Pakistan \u2014 all abstained. During the debate Beijing had stressed the world had \u201cnothing to gain\u201d from a new Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On the meeting\u2019s sidelines, Washington has taken aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS\u2014 The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that \u201cdemands\u201d Russia \u201cimmediately\u201d withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow\u2019sinvasion by a vast majority of the world\u2019s nations. After more than two…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n