Change of mood at the UN? or seemed?
The modern system of international security took shape after the Second World War and reflects the state of affairs that existed at the time of 1945 with minor amendments later. Why was the UN created? The League of Nations, which existed before, could not prevent such a large-scale and inhuman conflict, and therefore the world needed a new security system. Who created the UN? The victorious countries in World War II, including the USSR, whose illegal successor in the Security Council was the Russian Federation.
How did the UN react to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022? On March 2, 2022, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution, condemned the actions of Russia and called them aggression against Ukraine. Also, the UN Security Council considered a resolution to hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine. The document was sponsored by the United States and Albania. In total, 50 UN member states signed the resolution. But, of course, Russia used its veto power, blocking the adoption of the document. 11 countries voted "for" then, three countries - China, India and the United Arab Emirates - abstained. As a result, the UN turned a blind eye to the complete violation of international law and its own Charter. Security Council meetings continued, but they had no effect on ending the war unleashed by Russia.
Nevertheless, the work of the Ukrainian delegation to the UN did not stop even for a minute. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ensured the inclusion of a permanent item on Ukraine on the agenda of the UN Security Council, which made it possible for the Council to consider, if necessary, any issues related to the peace and security of Ukraine. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UN Security Council held 30 meetings to discuss the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine, two of them with the participation of the President of Ukraine.
On November 14, 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its violation of international law due to the invasion of Ukraine, as well as to create a mechanism for compensating Ukraine for the damage caused by Russian aggressors. We fix the voting results: 94 countries supported the document, 73 abstained, 14 opposed. Among those who voted against the resolution: the Russian Federation, Belarus, Syria, Iran, Zimbabwe, Cuba, China, Eritrea, Mali, the Central African Republic, North Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and the Bahamas. And, yes, then the countries voted for the "green light" and the launch of the International Compensation Mechanism for Ukraine. In order for this vote to take place, not only foreign policy departments were involved, but also the ministries of justice, finance, economy, the judiciary, as well as the tax services of a huge number of countries. We fix those who voted against - there are 14 of them.
Let's look further. Namely, we follow how the political preferences of the voting countries at the General Assembly have changed.
On February 23, 2023, the UN General Assembly voted for a draft resolution calling for the search for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. 141 countries voted in favor of the resolution, including Serbia and Hungary, which repeatedly spoke in a pro-Russian vein, seven countries voted against, 32 abstained. Besides Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Eritrea, Mali and Nicaragua voted against the resolution. Among those who abstained are Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, China, Iran and India. The text of the resolution calls on Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all troops from the territory of Ukraine. This resolution is an important step towards ensuring security in the country and an important act of supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine. But let's look at the voting results. So, if compared with the voting in November, the number of supporters of the Russian Federation has almost halved; there are only 7 left, including the Russian Federation.
On April 26, 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on cooperation with the Council of Europe, along with a mention of Russian aggression. The resolution was supported by 122 votes. Russia wanted to remove the mention of the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine from the document, but to no avail. Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua, Syria and North Korea voted against the resolution. What's interesting about the latest vote is that China voted in favor of the UN General Assembly resolution despite being harsh on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. In the past, Chinese representatives tended to abstain when voting on such draft resolutions. In addition to China, a number of other countries that are considered friendly to Russia, including Kazakhstan and Armenia, as well as India and Brazil, also voted in favor. Representatives of the People's Republic of China did not comment on the vote. Thus, we have so far a stable pool of friends of Moscow, repeating from vote to vote, but already in a narrow composition: Belarus, Nicaragua, Syria and North Korea. A stable five, if we also count the Russian Federation, which will not vote against itself.
Of course, resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly are not binding under international law. But, nevertheless, they influence, and sometimes shape the world agenda.
If we trace how the events unfolded with the adoption of the resolution on the Compensation Mechanism in the General Assembly since the beginning of autumn (for a long time, it was difficult, then there was support from 94 countries) and compare with the development of the acceptance by most countries of the fact of the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine (122 votes in favor) - then we come to the conclusion that positive progress is inevitable, and even such stubborn giants as China can move towards awareness of where is good and where is evil. Naturally, everything takes time, but it just works for Ukraine. Naturally, we would like to speed things up, but this does not happen.
The pool of ardent supporters of the Russian Federation in the UN is gradually decreasing and the time will come when only one vote against will remain on the scoreboard in the GA, and it will belong to what remains of the Russian Federation or "zero" appears opposite the word "against".
Of course, the Russian Federation should be excluded from the Security Council long ago for obvious reasons, and its illegal stay there is only a correction of a historical mistake. But until the world community, represented by the UN, makes radical decisions regarding the Russian Federation for the unleashed war, the evolutionary progress of the consciousness of the accomplice countries of the Russian Federation may work, and they will begin to turn away from the aggressor country, risking falling under justice, which will definitely be done.
