In the first session of the emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which began this Monday, it was clear that Russia faces complications for the leader of some country to support its decision to invade Ukraine.
The meeting is expected to continue until Wednesday afternoon, due to the fact that there is a list of at least 80 representatives of the 193 that make up this international organization, but the first messages did not favor Vladimir Putin’s regime at all.
The objective of the emergency General Assembly, promoted by Mexico, will vote on a draft resolution similar to a text vetoed by Russia in the Security Council, which held a session this Sunday that confirmed the vote of the 60 Members: 11 in favor, three abstentions and one against, that of Russia.
The resolution 1945 that the e Ambassador of Mexico, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, promoted the emergency meeting, establishes a call for peace and the marking of responsibilities for human rights violations.
The difference with the Security Council is that in the General Assembly no country has the right to veto, but any resolution requires the vote of two thirds of those attending.
Calculations on the backrest, between 60 and 80 nations would be sponsoring the resolution so far, but the number is expected to increase as there are more speeches this Tuesday and Wednesday, especially when the representative of the United States – the main promoter – exposes his case.
It should be noted that the resolutions of the Assembly are not binding, that is, they are not binding or they mark punishments, but they are a political pressure for the country in question, in this case Russia.
The first session had as key speakers the ambassadors of Russia, Ukraine and France – country that presides over the European Union–, as well as Secretary General António Guterres.
“Enough is enough”, said Guterres, who then referred to the first day of dialogue between Russia and Ukraine on the border of Belarus. “I hope that the direct talks that are taking place now between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations will produce not only an immediate cessation of fighting, but also a peace towards a diplomatic solution.” That didn’t happen. The dialogue between the two countries will continue in the coming days without a ceasefire. “We will not abandon Ukraine,” Guterres asserted.
For the French ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, abstention on this new resolution “is not an option”, as a clear message to China, India and the United Arab Emirates, who voted that way in the Security Council.
“Nobody can look away, abstention is not an option”, Riviere said.
Ukrainian ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, starred in an emotional moment when reading the message from a Russian soldier to his mother – shortly before he died – where he told her that they were attacking civilians in Ukraine.
Kyslytsya also made reference to Adolf Hitler and his suicide when speaking of Putin’s intention to use nuclear weapons, after putting the team that controls them “on alert”.
“If he wants to commit suicide , he does not have to use a nuclear arsenal, he has to do what the guy from Berlin did in a bunker in 1945,” Kyslytsya said, noting that Putin’s decision was “crazy”.
The Russian ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, maintained the discourse that the West was distorting its military actions.
1945
“Russian actions are being distorted and frustrated,” he complained. “The Russian Federation did not start these hostilities unleashed by Ukraine against its own residents… Russia is trying to put an end to this war”. ordered the expulsion of 12 members of his team to the UN who will have to leave the country on March 7, but the Biden Administration affirmed that made the decision because they are “agents” of the Russian secret service.