The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) is due to vote on Wednesday (12) the condemnation of Russia for the annexation of territories in Ukraine.
Representatives of the United Nations began on Monday (10) the debate on the resolution that would condemn Russia’s “so-called illegal referendums” and the “illegal attempt at annexation”.
On the first day of the assembly, 107 of the 193 member countries voted in favor of holding a public vote – and not a secret one, as the Russians requested.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the annexation of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The annexation was announced after Russian-backed authorities held referendums of sorts in the territories. Ukraine and allies denounced the votes as illegal and coercive.
At the time, the UN Security Council met to vote to condemn the measure, but the Kremlin vetoed the resolution. Brazil, China, India and Gabon abstained from voting.
At the general assembly, however, there are no vetoes allowed and abstentions do not count towards the final count.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Tuesday that the US will look to see which countries will side with Russia in the vote.
voltage escalation
Also on Monday, Russia fired long-range missiles at Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and shutting down power and heat facilities.
The blasts hit the Ukrainian capital Kiev with the greatest intensity since the start of the fighting, as well as the regions of Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine. Ukraine; Dnipro and Kremenchuk, in the centre; Zaporizhzhia, in the south; and Kharkiv in the east.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba even accused Moscow of committing war crimes by deliberately targeting energy facilities to promote “unbearable conditions for civilians”.
Putin said the missiles were detonated in revenge for Ukrainian attacks, which included the destruction of a bridge linking Russian territory to Crimea.
At an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the leaders of the G7 – a group made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – condemned the attacks.
“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime,” they said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in the talks and called for efforts to “create an air shield” over his territory to be stepped up.
*With information from Anna Chernova, Richard Roth, Tim Lister and Leo Lopes,
Source: CNN Brasil
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