Resolution passed at UN urges Russia to withdraw forces from Ukraine immediately

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The U.N. General Assembly has passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority calling for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces.
• The resolution stresses the need for accountability for any crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine through investigations and prosecutions.
• The measure is unenforceable in international law, but it sets a clear perception and shows global support for Ukraine.

On February 24th, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority of 141-7, and 32 abstentions, calling for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces. 

The resolution called for Russia’s “immediate cessation of the attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine and any deliberate attacks on civilian objects, including those that are residences, schools and hospitals.” It also called on nations and international organizations to “redouble support for diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

The resolution stresses the need for accountability for any crimes that may have been committed by Russia in Ukraine through investigations and prosecutions. While unenforceable in international law, it sets a clear perception and shows global support for Ukraine. Through five previous resolutions on Ukraine, the General Assembly is front and center at the United Nations because of Russia’s veto power in the 15-nation Security Council.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the vote a “powerful signal of unflagging global support.” 

After the vote, Ukraine sponsored a high-level meeting with investigators and experts testifying about gross violations of human rights by Russia. Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska told delegates, “We have the right to live free, not to be killed or tortured” and talked about the more than 6,000 Ukrainian children who have been forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Most of the speakers from various nations and organizations at the Emergency Special Session focused on the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several countries focused on the recent growing relationship between Russia and China — and the concerns that Russia could possibly receive lethal weapons from China.

“I’m totally with what both Secretary Blinken and President Biden said – that supplying lethal weapons to Russia will be the crossing of the red line,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CBS News.

“That red line would, I hope, never be crossed. Because if Russia, if China, starts supplying Russia with lethal weapons, it’s going to be the case for China starting a real Third World War and I’m sure that is against the intrinsic interest of China.”

Source: CBS News