UN General Assembly Censures Russia for War, Calls for Immediate End

WASHINGTON – The UN General Assembly has once again voted to denounce its war on Ukraine and called for an immediate end.

A total of 140 nations voted to censure Russia after one day of debate, with one less nation voting to do so compared to an earlier vote on March 2.

As with the prior vote, five nations, including Russia, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Eritrea, voted “no.” In all, 38 nations abstained.

The vote, which comes on the one-month anniversary of Russia’s war, is the second time the General Assembly has directly named Russia as the aggressor.

It specifically calls out the “aggression against Ukraine,” and demands an “immediate cessation of the hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.” It also “welcomes and urges the continued efforts by the Secretary-General, UN Member States, agencies and the international community to deliver humanitarian assistance.”

Russia said there was “no point” in explaining its opposition to the Ukrainian-backed resolution, “because it was put forward exclusively to condemn Russia, and to apply different labels to us.”

“The political considerations won over. The draft resolution doesn’t compensate for what’s actually happening on the ground,” said Moscow’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia.

Despite Russia’s stalwart opposition, the US, which strongly backed Ukraine’s text, hailed its passage as a moment of global unity “in the face of President (Vladimir) Putin’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”

“Together, a strong majority of UN member states made clear that Russia bears sole responsibility for the grave humanitarian crisis and violence in Ukraine,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.