The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) has been meeting since Monday to discuss the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia, and later the vote on a resolution condemning Moscow’s action is expected.
The meeting follows a veto imposed by Moscow on a resolution that was voted on September 30 in the UN Security Council and condemned the referendums organized in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, in the east. and southern Ukraine. , and its subsequent annexation by the Russian Federation.
The call for this meeting came officially from Ukraine and Albania, but it also has the clear impetus of the United States, which had already announced its intention to appeal to the General Assembly after the veto of Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Council. of Security of the UN (China, the United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom).
In the General Assembly, no country has veto power, but the body’s resolutions carry less weight than those of the Security Council.
Ukraine and its allies already appealed to this body last March to condemn the Russian invasion, which began on February 24, and which obtained overwhelming support from 141 of the 193 United Nations member states.
Last Thursday, Russia called for a secret vote on the resolution at the UN General Assembly.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said in a six-page letter sent to all other UN ambassadors and obtained by the Associated Press (AP) that the UN legal council has confirmed that it can be used. a secret ballot. making”.
Russia apparently hopes to get more support from some of the 193 member states of the General Assembly if the votes are not public.
The General Assembly announced that this special session on Ukraine will begin this afternoon, when the draft resolution – which seeks to condemn the “illegal annexation attempt” of the four Ukrainian regions and which will demand that Moscow immediately reverse its actions – will be exhibited.
Diplomats said they expected speeches from member states to continue on Tuesday, with a vote on the resolution likely to take place on Wednesday.
The votes on the resolutions of this body are traditionally public.
Source: TSF
