The UN Security Council rejected this Wednesday a resolution proposed by Russia on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, a text that the Western powers denounced as a cynical attempt to cover up their aggression against the neighboring country.
Moscow suffered a clear diplomatic defeat, since only China supported its initiative, while the other thirteen members of the Security Council abstained en bloc.
Thus, the resolution fell far short of the nine votes needed to move forward and prevented countries like the United States from having to use their veto rights to block it.
The Russian text called for, among other things, respect for “humanitarian principles”, condemned the attacks against civilians and requested a negotiated ceasefire in Ukraine, but did not mention at any time the reasons for the crisis in the country, that is to say the Russian invasion.
“It is truly unacceptable that Russia has the courage to present a resolution calling on the international community to resolve a humanitarian crisis that only Russia has created,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said today, accusing Moscow of trying to use the UN to cover their actions.
“If Russia is so concerned about the civilian population, it has only one thing to do: stop its offensive and withdraw its troops from Ukraine,” French representative Nicolas de Rivière added.
Other countries used terms like “trap” and “mockery” to refer to the Russian initiative, with many denouncing the cynicism that the country that is invading another and bombing its cities is the one asking for protection for the population.
Moscow, for its part, presented the text as an exclusively humanitarian resolution free of political charges, in an attempt to expose the Western powers for rejecting it, but it barely achieved support.
In recent days, the response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has been at the center of the diplomatic tussle at the United Nations, with several rival proposals for resolutions and heated debates.
Russia presented its proposal in response to an initiative by France and Mexico, which sought to approve a resolution on the humanitarian crisis in which Russia was directly named.
After several rounds of negotiations, the French and Mexican delegations finally concluded that it was not possible to move forward with the text given the position of Moscow, which has veto power in the Security Council, so they decided to go to the General Assembly.
The vote there will take place tomorrow, Thursday, although in principle there will be two resolutions on the table: the one promoted by France and Mexico – which has the support of dozens of countries, including Ukraine – and an alternative proposed by South Africa, which avoids pointing to Russia .
More than the real impact that these documents may have, which is expected to be almost nil, at stake is seeing how the international support of each side of the war evolves, after the General Assembly at the beginning of this month already denounced with an overwhelming majority the Russian invasion.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, today called for support for the South African resolution, while Ukraine and its allies are trying to get as many votes as possible for its draft.
At the beginning of March, the General Assembly already approved a resolution deploring the Russian “aggression” against Ukraine, a text that was supported by 141 of the 193 United Nations countries and that, in addition to Russia, only four opposed.
Through his spokesman, the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, stressed today the importance of the members of the organization approving a humanitarian resolution, but above all that they do so by showing unity.
