New York, USA.- The UN General Assembly will rule on Thursday on a resolution backed by kyiv and its allies calling for a “just and lasting” peace in Ukraine one year after the Russian invasion.
“This is a decisive moment to show support, unity and solidarity,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said from the rostrum on the first day of this debate on the Russian intervention that began on February 24, 2022.
The non-binding draft resolution reaffirms “attachment” to “the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” “demands” the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces, and calls for a “cessation of hostilities.”
Kiev and its allies hope that the text, put to a vote at the end of this second day of the UN General Assembly, will obtain at least as many votes as an October resolution in which 143 countries condemned the Russian annexations of several Ukrainian regions.
The three resolutions related to the Russian invasion voted in the General Assembly in the last year collected between 140 and 143 votes in favour, less than 40 abstentions and five countries that systematically voted against (Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea ).
Although this resolution is above all “symbolic,” says Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, it is also intended to make clear Russia’s isolation “by undermining President Vladimir Putin’s claims to lead a grand anti-Western coalition” at this instance of the body. .
Reminiscences of the Cold War
“This vote will go down in history,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who called for a vote against the “hostile” amendments put forward by Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
These amendments call for “the immediate start of peace negotiations”, remove references to Russian aggression and the demand for the withdrawal of forces from Moscow and urge member states to “refrain from sending weapons to the conflict zone”. .
On Wednesday, at the opening of this special session, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, denounced “the affront to the collective conscience” represented by the invasion of Ukraine and warned of the “implicit threats” to resort to nuclear weapons. and “irresponsible” activities around nuclear power plants.
