The United Nations Security Council convened a rare special meeting of the 193-member General Assembly on Sunday to discuss and vote on a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After Moscow used its veto to prevent the text from being voted on by the US last week, Western governments hope there will be an unequivocal condemnation of the invasion by the GA, whose meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. Greece).
At the fourth urgent meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine within a week, 11 of its 15 member states voted in favor of a motion for a resolution to be tabled in the General Assembly. Russia voted against, but had no veto over the procedural issue.
“Russia can not stop the world from uniting to condemn its invasion of Ukraine,” said Barbara Woodward, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Given that several countries are expected to take the podium, the process may take days.
This will be just the 11th extraordinary special meeting in the last 70 years.
The aim is to at least surpass the number of votes cast by the countries that declared the Crimean referendum on its annexation by Russia invalid in 2014. 100 Member States were in favor then, 11 were against and 58 abstained.
The current draft resolution, a copy of which has reached the German agency, condemns the Russian invasion “in the strongest terms” and expresses support for national sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and unity of Ukraine. He demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and the implementation of the Minsk agreement.
According to diplomatic sources, the text will be modified.
While Security Council resolutions are often legally binding, those of the General Assembly are by definition not of such a nature, but have symbolic value.
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