UN passes resolution on Ukraine, removes anti-Russian elements
The United Nations Security Council has adopted a US-drafted resolution on Ukraine, rejecting any anti-Russian amendments.
Ten countries voted in favor of the resolution, including Russia, China and the United States, while five countries abstained. No one voted against.
The authors of the resolution "express sorrow at the tragic loss of life in the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine"; state that the primary purpose of the United Nations "is to maintain international peace and security and to resolve disputes peacefully"; "strongly demand" an immediate end to the conflict and "encourage" "the establishment of lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation".
However, the document was adopted in its original form; the UN Security Council rejected amendments from European countries that were anti-Russian. Russian amendments were also rejected. One of those amendments called for Moscow to eliminate the “root causes” of the crisis.
On Monday, the UN General Assembly voted on the US text. However, the US-proposed text was significantly changed - due to amendments from Western countries approved by the General Assembly that made it less neutral. For example, at the instigation of Western countries, the "conflict between Russia and Ukraine" (as the US proposed to call it) in the document was changed to "full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine". The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya called the resolution an "anti-Russian text".
Unlike General Assembly resolutions, UN Security Council resolutions are binding.
