In March, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now the world community is to decide again on the actions of the Kremlin. The vote on a resolution in New York is also seen as a global mood test. Russia is apparently hoping for war fatigue.
In the evening, the UN General Assembly will begin deliberations on the recent illegal annexation of parts of Ukraine by Russia. At the end of the session, which could drag on until Wednesday due to the large number of speakers, the UN body, the largest with 193 member states, is to vote on a resolution condemning Moscow.
Russia had previously called for a secret ballot - apparently in the hope of a better result. High-ranking diplomats describe this as an unprecedented operation that is unlikely to receive sufficient support.
Just a few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin completed the annexations of the partially occupied regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson with his signature. As expected, a condemning resolution in the UN Security Council tabled by the US and other countries was blocked by a veto by Moscow. The process then moved to the General Assembly. Adoption by the body requires the support of two-thirds of the voting countries.
A draft resolution condemned Russia's actions as aggression and "violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity". The referendums are illegal, have "no validity under international law and do not form a basis for changing the status of these regions of Ukraine," it said. Russia is violating the UN charter, must reverse its actions and withdraw from Ukraine.
A clear majority is expected when the UN General Assembly votes, but the text will have to be measured against two previous results: In March, the assembly rejected Russia's invasion with a historic majority of 141 votes, only four states opposed it side of the Kremlin. In 2014, following Russia's annexation of Crimea, 100 member states committed to a resolution emphasizing Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Western diplomats emphasized that every UN member country must have a self-interest in condemning Russia, lest it itself become a victim of illegal annexation by a neighboring state. On the other hand, observers have been seeing war fatigue in a number of countries, especially in Africa and Latin America, for some time now. Some of them find that the Ukraine war distracts from other regional conflicts and global crises and blocks progress.
