UNGA denounces Russia’s invasion plan.
With a resounding majority, the UN General Assembly has denounced Russia’s plans to invade four areas of Ukraine.
143 nations voted in favour of the resolution, while 35 governments, including China and India, abstained.
Along with Russia, the vote was opposed by Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Nicaragua. It was the most votes against Russia since the invasion, though only symbolic.
President Vladimir Putin signed legal documents last week to annexe the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson to Russia in a formal ceremony held in the Kremlin.
The agreements were made following self-proclaimed referendums in the territories that the West called a “sham,” and they were signed with the leaders of the four regions who had been appointed by Moscow.
The resolution demands Russia’s “prompt reversal” and urges the international community to reject all of its annexation claims.
It applauds and “expresses its strong support” for negotiations aimed at de-escalating the conflict.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, expressed his gratitude to the nations that had helped the country.
He tweeted that Ukraine would “return all its territory” and said that “the world has its say – [Russia’s] attempts at annexation is worthless and will never be recognized by free nations.”
The vote, according to US Vice President Joe Biden, delivered a “clear message” to Moscow.
As UNGA denounces Russia’s invasion plan, the stakes of this confrontation are obvious to everyone, and the world has responded by sending a clear message: Russia cannot remove a sovereign state off the map.
