One year after Russian invasion of Ukraine, UN discusses resolution to demand cessation of hostilities

This Friday marks one year since the troops of Vladimir Poutine decided to illegally invade Ukraine, so that United Nations General Assembly will rule on a resolution supported by Kyiv and its allies calling for a “just and lasting” peace and cessation of hostilities.

“This is a defining moment to show support, unity and solidaritysaid the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kulebaon the first day of this debate on the Russian intervention which began on February 24, 2022.

“Never in recent history has the line between good and evil been so clear. One country simply wants to survive. The other wants to kill and destroy“, he added.

kyiv and its allies hope that the text, put to the vote at the end of this second day, will obtain at least as many votes as an October resolution in which 143 countries have condemned Russian annexations from various Ukrainian regions.

The draft resolution, non-binding, “stresses the need to achieve as soon as possible a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.

Also reaffirms the attachment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces and calls for the cessation of hostilities.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Anthony Guterres, joins the call for peace by criticizing Wednesday an invasion that is “an affront to our collective conscience”.

“The possible consequences of the escalation of the conflict are a clear danger and are already there“, he pointed.

Like President Vladimir Putin, who this week accused the West of wanting to “finish off” Russia and promised to “systematically” respect the objectives of the invasion, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenziaattacked kyiv’s allies.

“In their desire to inflict defeat on Russia in any way possible, they are not only ready to sacrifice Ukraine, are ready to lead the whole world into the abyss of war“, he claimed.

It’s not a question of “The West against Russia”“replied the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. “This illegal war affects the whole world: North, South, East and West“, he recalls.

The three resolutions related to the Russian invasion passed in the General Assembly last year included 140 and 143 votes for, less than 40 abstentions and five countries that have consistently voted against (Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea).

Another somewhat different resolution in April, which suspended Russia from human rights councilreceived less consensus: 93 votes for, 24 against and 58 abstentions.

For its part, China, which abstained in all these votes, tried on Wednesday to play the role of mediator by presenting its vision of “a political solution” to the conflict in Moscow.

The head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yiwas received at the Kremlin after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“The Chinese interlocutors shared with us their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their proposals for a political solution.but “no separate peace plan has been discussed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

This week was marked by Putin’s speech reaffirming his intention to continue the invasion of ukraine and announcing his withdrawal from nuclear disarmament treaty New Start signed in 2010 with the United States.

US President Joe Biden told the network on Wednesday ABC of Warsaw that the decision was “A big mistake“, but nuanced that there was no indication that Putin was “planning to use nuclear weapons”.

Internally, after a year of invasion, Tensions in Russia between the military command and the paramilitary group Wagner are increasingly notoriousparticipating in an offensive halted by Ukrainian resistance and Western support.

As a sign of these tensions, the leader of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Wednesday asked the population to put pressure on the army to deliver ammunition to its mercenaries deployed in the battle of Bakhmut, one of the points hot from the forehead.

(With information from AFP)

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