The Russian Federation Friday vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) vote to adopt a draft resolution that would end the crisis in Ukraine.
The draft was submitted by Albania and the US, and garnered eleven yes votes, with abstentions from China, India, and the UAE. The draft would have deplored the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine as being in violation of Article 2 of the UN Charter, prohibiting the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or independence of any state. It called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine.
Before the vote, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, representative of the United States, said that the UNSC had been created to prevent exactly this kind of aggression and that the members have “a solemn obligation to not look away.” She noted how many UN member states, including the US, are implementing strict sanctions against Russia and individual members of Russia’s government. She called Russia’s claims that all parties to the conflict are culpable “a clear cop-out.” After the vote, she told the Russian Federation that they could veto the resolution but not the truth.
Vassily Nebenzia, delegate for the Russian Federation, said that the US was in no position to moralize on the issue, noting that it was difficult to compete with the US in terms of number of invasions. He claimed that Ukrainian personnel was using human shields in violation of the Geneva Conventions, and decried what he claimed was propaganda in the misuse of images coming out of Ukraine by political and media outlets, including the BBC.
Sergiy Kyslytsya of Ukraine called the Russian delegate’s statement “a letter of application for an upscale seat in hell.” He also recalled times when the Russian delegate said there would be no invasion, saying that the delegate’s words “have less value than a hole in a New York pretzel.” He thanked those delegates who voted in favor of the resolution and was saddened to see some delegates tolerating the war, noting that they should oppose it if only to protect their own nationals currently in Ukraine.
