Ukraine: 141 UN States adopt a “resolution for peace”; Italy’s Tajani, “a victory in the name of freedom”

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 23 – On the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a “just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in Ukraine” in line with the U.N. Charter, and respecting the territorial integrity of the country attacked  a year ago by Russia. The draft was adopted with 141 votes in favor and only seven against. “It is a great victory in the name of freedom,” said the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who took part in the vote. He defined the resolution “a text that defends Ukraine but is, above all, in favor of peace”.

The draft gathered 75 countries co-sponsors, including Italy: “We reaffirmed
Ukraine’s independence and condemn the Russian invasion, but also aim to create peace and we have overwhelmingly won,” the minister added in a press stake-out after the vote. The resolution is the sixth adopted by the Assembly since the beginnng of the war. Thirty-two countries abstained: among them Russia’s allies such as China, India, and Iran, as well as Cuba, Pakistan, Angola, Ethiopia, Algeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Only seven UN member states opposed: in addition to Russia, Syria, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, Nicaragua, and, for the first time, Mali.

The adopted text stresses “the need to achieve, as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter.” The resolution “reaffirms
its commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders” and calls for “the cessation of hostilities and the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian military forces.”

The EU and all its member states “have played their part”, said the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, speaking to reporters after the vote. He added, stressing the strong moral weight of the new document, that “a General Assembly resolution is not wet paper. It’s something that expresses the concerns of the international community. Everyone says they want peace, but we need to move from nice words to practice: what kind of peace, and how?”

Prior to the vote, two amendments submitted yesterday by Belarus had been rejected, one of which called for replacing the term “invasion” with the term “Special Operation.” The first amendment garnered 11 yes, 94 no and 56 abstentions, while the
second garnered 15 yes votes, 91 no votes and 52 abstentions. (@OnuItalia)