Rare UN General Assembly session today to have say on Russia

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Rare UN General Assembly session today to have say on Russia​

AFP
February 28, 2022
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A file photo of the UN General Assembly Hall. — Reuters

Russia will find out just how isolated it is on the world stage on Monday as the United Nations holds a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly to discuss whether to condemn Moscow's attack on Ukraine.

All 193 members will have their say as the global body decides if it will support a resolution condemning Russia's “unprovoked armed aggression” in Ukraine and demand its immediate withdrawal.

It is only the 11th time in the UN's history that such an emergency session has been held.

And it will be seen as a barometer of democracy in a world where autocratic sentiment has been on the rise, diplomats said, pointing to such regimes in Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Nicaragua — and, of course, Russia.

If Moscow wins in Ukraine, the international order could be “changed forever”, one senior diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, underscoring the gravity of the moment at the body charged with global peace and security.

The meeting will begin at 10am in New York with speeches by assembly president Abdulla Shahid and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

With many countries expected to speak, a vote on the resolution may not come until Tuesday.

Its authors hope they may exceed 100 votes in favour — though countries including Syria, China, Cuba and India are expected to either support Russia or abstain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

He has deployed tens of thousands of troops in and around the country, equipped with tanks, fighter jets and ships.

Since then Russia has become an international pariah as its forces do battle on the streets of Ukraine's cities, facing a barrage of sanctions including a ban from Western airspace and key financial networks.

On Sunday, Putin ordered Russia's nuclear “deterrence forces” onto high alert, prompting an immediate international outcry, with the United States slamming the order as “totally unacceptable”. Russia has pleaded “self-defence” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries and the UN, which accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring its members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

They were due to repeat those accusations on Monday.

'No ordinary moment'​

The move to hold the emergency session was sparked by Russia on Friday using its veto to block a Security Council resolution that condemned Moscow's invasion and called for the immediate withdrawal of its troops.

Russia voted against the resolution, but it did not have veto power to derail the referral of the war to the General Assembly, allowed under a 1950 resolution called “Uniting for Peace”.

It allows for members of the Security Council to seize the General Assembly for a special session if the five permanent members — Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China — fail to agree to act together to maintain peace.

Only the support of nine of the council's 15 members is required to call an emergency special session of the General Assembly.

Eleven countries voted in favour. Russia opposed, while the United Arab Emirates, China and India abstained.
“The council members who supported this resolution recognise that this is no ordinary moment,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

On Monday at 5pm, the Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, where up to seven million people are expected to flee the fighting.

Rare UN General Assembly session today to have say on Russia

It is only the 11th time in the UN's history that such an emergency session has been called.

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Pakistan, India and China abstain as UNGA votes on Russia-Ukraine conflict​

• Resolution wins support from 141 of the 193-member United Nations General Assembly

AFP | BR Web Desk | APP
02 Mar, 2022

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that "demands" Russia "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow's invasion by a vast majority of the world's nations.

Japan and New Zealand led condemnation from Asia, but the continent's giants -- China, India, and Pakistan -- all abstained. During the debate, Beijing had stressed the world had "nothing to gain" from a new Cold War.


Pakistan skips resolution

While abstaining from the vote, Pakistan underscored the need for a diplomatic solution to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, hoping that talks initiated between the two countries in Belarus would bring about an end to hostilities.

“Pakistan remains deeply concerned at the recent turn of events. This reflects a failure of diplomacy,” Ambassador Munir Akram said.

In his remarks at the special session – the eleventh called since the founding of the United Nations – Ambassador Akram said Prime Minister Imran Khan had regretted the latest situation between Russia and Ukraine and had hoped that diplomacy could avert military conflict.

“We have since repeatedly stressed the need for de-escalation, renewed negotiations, sustained dialogue, and continuous diplomacy,” the Pakistani envoy said.

“All efforts must be made to avoid further escalation of violence and loss of life as well as military, political and economic tensions, which can pose an unprecedented threat to international peace and security and global economic stability.

“As consistently underlined by Prime Minister Imran Khan, the developing countries are hit the hardest economically by conflict anywhere,” he said.
“We hope the talks initiated between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine will succeed in bringing about a cessation of hostilities and normalization of the situation.

“A diplomatic solution in accordance with relevant multilateral agreements, international law, and provisions of the UN Charter is indispensable,” the Pakistan envoy added.

Ambassador Akram also voiced concern about the safety and welfare of Pakistani citizens and students in Ukraine, noting that the majority of them had been evacuated and that those who remain would move out soon.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities as well as the Polish, Romanian and Hungarian governments in this context,” the Pakistani envoy said.
After more than two days of extraordinary debate which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the non-binding resolution.

The resolution "deplores" the invasion of Ukraine "in the strongest terms" and condemns President Vladimir Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.

The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise in countries from Myanmar to Venezuela and came as Putin's forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.

"They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist," Ukraine's ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.

"It's already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide."

Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded "self-defense" under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

The text of the resolution -- led by European countries in coordination with Ukraine -- has undergone numerous changes in recent days.

It no longer "condemns" the invasion as initially expected, but instead "deplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine."

'Who will be next?'

It also makes clear the United Nations is "condemning" Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on alert, a move that ignited an immediate outcry from the West.
Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war and the risks of military escalation.

"If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war," the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.

She accused Russia of "preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign."

"We've seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield that includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva Convention," Thomas-Greenfield said....

Russia's ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.
Ambassador Valentin Rybakov blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as "the worst example of economic and financial terrorism."

And he followed other Russian allies such as Syria in condemning the "double standards" of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan in recent decades.

Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia. Colombia railed against any return to "empire," while Albania wondered: "Who will be next?"

From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit, with the rest of the Middle East remaining in the background.

On the meeting's sidelines, Washington has taken aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions.
US President Joe Biden asserted Tuesday in his State of the Union address that Putin had underestimated the response to the invasion.

"He rejected efforts at diplomacy... And, he thought he could divide us here at home," Biden said.

"Putin was wrong. We were ready."

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