New York (Aftenposten): The United Nations has decided to condemn Russia’s annexation of areas in eastern Ukraine. But major powers such as China and India still refuse to take sides.
The “exhaustion of Ukraine” problem has been called. Already in the spring of this year, Western diplomats at the United Nations began to see signs that some countries are tired of the war in Ukraine that is getting so much attention from the international community.
On March 2, 141 countries voted to condemn the invasion of Ukraine. 35 countries voted blank. Only 5 supported Russia.
Since then, there have been growing fears that the broad alliance against Russia would collapse as the war dragged on.
Wednesday evening appeared an important unit test. Then the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution condemning, among other things, Russia’s annexation of four regions in eastern Ukraine. It also states that the so-called referendums held violate international law.
This time, 143 countries chose to vote in favor. Only 4 other countries sided with Russia. These were North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Nicaragua.
35 abstained from voting. Among these are major powers such as India and China, which together account for 36 percent of the world’s population. Both countries have chosen to remain neutral in all significant votes on Ukraine since the war began. They continued to trade with Russia.
Multiply the magic number
The result is a major recovery for Ukraine and its allies.
– This shows that Russia is still isolated. No one but Putin himself wants this war, says Foreign Minister Anken Hoetfeldt.
And he was warned in advance that support for condemning Russia could be lower than in March, when 141 countries voted for it.
Estonia’s ambassador to the United Nations referred to this figure as the “gold standard” before the vote.
– 141 has become a somewhat magical number, but the most important thing is that it is an overwhelming majority, Norway’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mona Juul, said previously.
the pressure
Western countries exerted intense pressure to get as many countries as possible to vote in favor of the resolution. According to Politico, US diplomacy was involved at all levels, including ambassadors, secretaries of state, and the secretary of state herself.
The goal was to make Russia look as lonely and isolated as it was in March.
Secretary of State Hoetfeldt also said she had spent “a lot of time” in recent weeks addressing the Ukraine war, among other things with countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Many countries have their own kinds of problems to focus on, including large refugee flows, Heitfeldt says.
The secretary of state, who visited New York on Wednesday, said she touched upon, among other things, fundamental aspects of the Ukraine war.
– I’m talking about the kind of global community we get if a powerful country can attack a neighboring country militarily and then take part of it through so-called referendums. It is a violation of the core values of the United Nations.
The methods used by slave owners
The Russians ran their own pressure campaign before the vote and at the same time criticized the West for putting pressure on UN member states.
A Russian proposal to make the General Assembly vote a secret was voted on earlier this week.
– In recent days, we have witnessed an unparalleled campaign of blackmail against developing countries, this was stated by Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasilij Nebenzia, before the vote.
He added that the procedure was an example of “the methods used by slave owners and colonial powers”. At the same time, Nebenzia called on the UN countries to stand against the “dictations of the West” and the “monitoring of Big Brother.”
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dry gunpowder
United Nations expert Richard Guan is among those who have written about the risk that the international community will eventually be affected by Ukraine’s fatigue.
Joanne, director of the International Crisis Group, a think-tank, wrote, In the history of.
This is one of the reasons why the General Assembly has not voted on any resolutions related to Ukraine for six months. According to Guan, Western diplomats would make sure to leave their dry powder on when they really needed it.
The Russians are uncomfortable
Thursday’s resolution is the third so far this year condemning the Russian war.
Although the UN General Assembly resolutions are primarily symbolic, Norway’s foreign minister believes they have real value.
– It is important that the international community respond to what Russia has done. Heitfeldt says this should not be normalized in any way.
Norway’s ambassador to the United Nations believes that votes are important to the Ukrainian people, who see them as having a lot of support globally. Nor does she suspect that the Russians are watching closely.
– I am convinced that the Russians are not comfortable with this. We see it, among other things, in the way they tried to thwart the vote and address the issue at the public meeting, says Jules.
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