Desk Report
Publish: 24 Mar 2022, 12:52 pm
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres || Photo: Collected
The
UN General Assembly is expected to vote Thursday on a new non-binding
resolution which, if adopted by a majority of member states, will
"demand" that Russia stop the war in Ukraine "immediately".
The vote comes after 141 countries approved an
earlier resolution on March 2 that similarly demands Russia immediately cease
the use of force against Ukraine.
In
that vote, five states, including Russia, voted against and 35 abstained. The
resolution was non-binding and, other than demonstrating Russia's isolation on
the world stage, did not appear to impact the fighting.
On
Wednesday Ukraine put the new resolution forward at another emergency session
of the General Assembly in New York.
The
text, which is also non-binding, "demands an immediate cessation of the
hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular of any
attacks against civilians and civilian objects."
It
also reiterates UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for Moscow to
"stop its military offensive, as well as his call to establish a ceasefire
and to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations."
The
draft resolution, seen by AFP, is supported by 88 countries and had been
initially prepared by France and Mexico.
The
United States ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described it as
"building" on the March 2 vote.
She
said it "makes that appeal to the one person with the ability to stop the
violence. And that's Vladimir Putin."
Her
French counterpart Nicolas de Riviere said France was calling on Moscow to
"stop the aggression of Ukraine, which has been killing civilians,
including children, medical staff and journalists for a month."
"It is a massacre and the worst is still
ahead of us," he continued, recalling that the "absolute priority is
an immediate cessation of hostilities and full compliance with international
humanitarian law."
The
resolution was debated Wednesday and is due to be voted on Thursday.
Also
on Wednesday, Russia submitted a resolution to the UN Security Council on the
"humanitarian situation" in Ukraine -- but it was not adopted.
Russia
and China voted in favor, but the other 13 members of the Council abstained to
show, according to diplomats, that the Russian text was
"unacceptable".
Last
week Russia -- which invaded Ukraine on February 24, and has been accused of
committing war crimes against civilians -- cancelled an earlier attempt at the
resolution due to a lack of support from its closest allies.
That
resolution never had a chance of adoption because it would have been vetoed by
Western powers.
Russia,
however, had hoped that some votes in favor would have shown it still has some
support on the world stage following its all-out assault on Ukraine.
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