As expected, Russia vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday evening to block a resolution condemning the country’s annexation of parts of Ukraine. The resolution was tabled by the US just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified the annexation.
The resolution labeled the referenda “illegal and called on the international community not to recognize the annexations. Russia should also immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the beginning of the session that the “United Nations is built on the idea that no country should ever again take another person’s territory by force”. However, the resolution was doomed from the outset. “Do you really expect Russia to consider and support such a proposal?” asked the Russian UN ambassador Vasili Nebenzia rhetorically.
China, Russia’s main ally in the Security Council, abstained, as did the non-permanent members of the Security Council India, Brazil and Gabon.
The provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia have been largely occupied by Russian troops and referendums on joining Russia have been held this week. According to the controversial results, almost everyone has voted to belong to Russia. Referendums and annexations are not recognized internationally. UN chief António Guterres has condemned the annexation as illegal and fears escalation of the war. The European Union, like the US, stressed on Friday that the union will never recognize these annexations. The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra calls the annexation “completely illegal”.