UN, EU & G7 Condemn Russia for Invading Ukraine While Supporting Kyiv in its Defense of Independence; PACE Joins Condemnation of Russia

The UN General Assembly passed today, October 12, a historic resolution by an overwhelming majority of member-states calling on countries not to recognize the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has seized, following the “forcerendums” held late last month, and demanding that Moscow reverse course on its “attempted illegal annexation.”

The results were 143 member-states in favor out of 194, with five voting against, and 35 abstentions. The countries who voted against were Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria. A majority of those countries abstaining were African nations, alongside China and India. Among the surprises in support for Wednesday’s resolution were the “yes” votes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Brazil.

Since Moscow launched its latest war against Ukraine in 2014 by invading and occupying Crimea and then Donetsk and Luhansk, the United Nations has adopted several resolutions which condemned Russia for its aggression against Ukraine. The 2014 resolution affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and declaring the referendum that led to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal was adopted by a vote of 100-11 with 58 abstentions.

The resolution “defending the principles” of the UN Charter, pointed out that the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia as a result of aggression, violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.

The General Assembly automatically took up the resolution for debate, triggered by Russia’s use of the veto in the Security Council over its attempted annexation.

The resolution now passed in the Assembly, calls on all states, the UN and international organizations not to recognize any of Russia’s annexation claim and demands the immediate reversal of its annexation declaration.

The resolution welcomes and “expresses its strong support” for the continued efforts by the Secretary-General and Member-States, to de-escalate the current situation in search of peace through dialogue, negotiation and mediation.

The United Nations vote came three days after Russia launched a massive rocket attack against Ukrainian civilian residences in the wake of Ukraine’s destruction of the Kerch Bridge, Putin’s umbilical cord holding Crimea to Russia. Scores of civilians were killed in the attack on 15 cities and dozens of residential building were destroyed.

This escalation on the part of Russia was condemned by global organizations and Putin personally was warned not to threaten Ukraine and the world with nuclear Armageddon. The Russian dictator remarkably boasted the he had ordered the rocket attacks against civilian targets and promised to kill more Ukrainians.

Today’s remarkable vote at the UN General Assembly sends a powerful reminder to Russia that the overwhelming majority of nations of the world stand with Ukraine, in defense of the UN Charter, and in unyielding opposition to Russia’s latest ongoing war against Ukraine and its people. The world knows that Russia is a terrorist state and a perpetrator of war crimes and genocide in Ukraine.

The resolution underlined that territorial integrity is a central pillar of the United Nations, and Russia’s violent contempt for Ukraine’s national borders and sovereignty cannot and will not be accepted.  By adopting this resolution, the assembled nations made clear: they will not tolerate an attempt by any UN Member State to seize land by force.  The vote delivers a resounding rebuke to Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Representative to the United Nations, said today: “The only way to bring peace is to stop this aggression, to demand accountability, to stand together with conviction, to show what we will not tolerate. So let us send a clear message today, colleagues: The United Nations will not tolerate attempts at illegal annexation. We will never recognize it. These United Nations will not tolerate seizing a neighbor’s land by force. We will stand up to it. These United Nations will not tolerate the destruction of the UN Charter. We will defend it.”

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, had appealed to the member-states to vote against the resolution, calling it “a politicized and openly provocative document” and denouncing its sponsors as “unscrupulous Western blackmailers.” He expressed regret the vote was not by secret ballot, as Russia sought. Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s claims the referendums were valid, saying “the populations of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.”

The G7 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as the European Union, adopted on October 11 its own resolution supporting Ukraine and condemning Russia, in which it stated:

• The G7 firmly condemn and unequivocally reject the illegal attempted annexation by Russia of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in addition to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol. We solemnly reiterate that we will never recognize this illegal annexation or the sham referenda that Russia uses to justify it.
• Russia has blatantly violated the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. They cannot and do not give Russia a legitimate basis to change Ukraine’s borders. We call upon all countries to unequivocally reject these violations of international law and demand that Russia cease all hostilities and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its troops and military equipment from Ukraine.
• We have imposed and will continue to impose further economic costs on Russia, including on individuals and entities – inside and outside of Russia – providing political or economic support for Russia’s illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory.
• We deplore deliberate Russian escalatory steps, including the partial mobilization of reservists and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, which is putting global peace and security at risk. We reaffirm that any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with severe consequences.

Without attempting to belittle these resolutions, it must be pointed out that while condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its attempt to re-subjugate it in a revived prison of nations is a compelling move, the United Nations has no armed forces of its own to hasten Russia’s demise. However, it is hoped that these documents will inspire the free world to help Ukraine defeat Russia by joining the battle from the trenches, side by side with Ukrainian soldiers until the heathen racists are repelled back to their motherland.

UPDATE: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, following an urgent debate on “Further escalation in the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine,” adopted on October 13 a resolution declaring the Russian Federation a terrorist regime, expanding the number of institutions that have condemned Russia for its war crimes, acts of genocide and terrorism. According to an Ukrinform correspondent, 99 out of 100 PACE deputies voted in favor of the document and one abstained.

Furthermore, the resolution recognizes complicity of Russian political parties that have previously voted for illegal decisions encroaching on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and other countries, “as groups and entities that facilitate terrorism.”