On Wednesday (12 October) the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia’s illegal annexations in Ukraine and demand that they be reversed.
143 member states voted in favour of the Resolution entitled “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the charter of the United Nations.” Just four states joined Russia in opposing it: Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Nicaragua. 35 states including China, India and South Africa abstained. This historic outcome was a strong statement from the international community in defence of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and a rejection of the annexations in the South East of the country.
Click here for a full readout of the vote.
The Resolution condemns Russia’s organisation of so-called referendums and attempted illegal annexations in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzha, within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine. It demands that Russia immediately reverses its decisions in those areas as “they are a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”. The Resolution also demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally” withdraws its military forces from Ukraine.
UNA-UK welcomes the Resolution’s strong support for the continued efforts of the Secretary-General, Member States, and other international organisations, to support the de-escalation of the situation and pursue paths towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Preceding the vote, the General Assembly held a procedural vote on whether a secret ballot should be used for the Ukraine resolution, rather than the standard practice of an open recorded vote. The measure, brought forward by Russia, was rejected after 103 states backed Albania’s proposal that the vote should be in accordance with Rule 87(b) of the Rules of Procedure. Albania’s representative at the UN argued that voting in secret on such a substantive issue of peace and security would set a “dangerous precedent”.
UNA-UK welcomes this significant outcome, which took place through the ongoing Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on Ukraine. The vote shows that an overwhelming majority of the international community remains united in opposing Russia’s illegal war. This level of support was far from guaranteed with concerns amongst observers that since the historic vote in March - when 141 member states overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia’s act of aggression - support from non-Western states may have waned.
While the vote can be seen as a clear victory for Western diplomats who lobbied hard for the outcome, there is an undercurrent among traditionally non-aligned states concerned that other violent conflicts as well as pressing issues like food insecurity and climate action are being overlooked. Putin remains isolated, his attempts to frame this war as an anti-imperialist and anti-colonial mission have failed to win new allies, but Western countries will have to do more to stand in solidarity with those facing other global challenges if they are to convince a coalition of this size to remain diplomatically seized on Ukraine.
Read more:
- See UNA-UK's briefing on the UN emergency special session
- Click here to read UNA-UK's statement on Ukraine
- Read this update on the historic Black Sea grain deal
