UN General Assembly passes resolution condemning Russia for invasion of Ukraine

The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) approved, this Wednesday (2), a resolution condemning Russia for the invasion against Ukraine.

The meeting was convened by the Security Council and held as an emergency to discuss the situation in Eastern Europe. For approval, a majority of 2/3 of the voters was required.

There were 141 votes in favour, five against and 35 abstentions.

Before the vote, and introducing the draft resolution, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kylytsya, said that the “crimes committed by Russia” are barbaric and difficult to understand and called for respect for the UN letter.

He ended the speech applauded by those present in the Assembly.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, in turn, asked that the draft not be approved and that countries “vote for their interests and not for pressure”. During his speech, he accused Ukraine of using people as a human shield and holding hostages in Kiev.

Nebenzya said that the refusal of the vote would allow “freeing Ukraine from neo-Nazism” and that there is the growth of groups with this ideal in the Eastern European country.

“We are trying to end the eight-year war in the Donbas region. We talked to everyone, but they didn’t listen. The purpose of the special operation shows that we are not making attacks on civilian infrastructure,” he added.

Brazil voted in favor, but it was one of the countries that was scheduled to provide justification after the resolution.

Bassam al-Sabbagh, Syria’s ambassador to the UN, called the vote “hypocrisy”. Vincent and the Grenadines Representative Rhonda King demanded an immediate ceasefire and called for dialogue.

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, in a statement to the press after the vote, said he would continue to do “everything in his power” to ensure that the conflict ends and the negotiations continue.

“People of Ukraine, we know that you need peace, and people all over the world demand that peace,” he said.

US Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfied, also in a statement, said that “today, light has conquered darkness.”

understand the conflict

After months of military escalation and intemperance on the Ukrainian border, Russia attacked the Eastern European country. At dawn this Thursday (24), Russian forces began to bomb several regions of the country – follow the repercussion live on CNN.

Hours earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a “special military operation” in the Donbas region (eastern Ukraine, where the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk are located, which he recognized as independent).

What was seen in the following hours, however, was an attack on almost the entire Ukrainian territory, with explosions in several cities, including the capital Kiev.According to Ukrainian authorities, dozens of deaths were confirmed in the armies of both countries.

In his speech before the attack, Putin justified the action by saying that Russia could not “tolerate threats from Ukraine”. Putin urged Ukrainian soldiers to “put down your weapons and go home”. The Russian leader further stated that he will not accept any kind of foreign interference.

This attack on the former Soviet neighbor threatens to destabilize Europe and involve the United States.

Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine over the past year, piling up tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery at the country’s gates. In recent weeks, diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions have been unsuccessful.

The escalation in the years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine has set off the continent’s biggest security crisis since the Cold War, raising the specter of a dangerous confrontation between Western powers and Moscow.

(*With information from Reuters and CNN International)