New Delhi: Russia on Friday (February 25, 2022) vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution that would have deplored it`s invasion of Ukraine, while China abstained from the vote. The Western countries view this move of China as a win for showing Russia`s international isolation.
While 11 council members voted in favor, the United Arab Emirates and India abstained from the vote on the U.S.-drafted text. The remaining 11 council members voted in favor. The draft resolution is now expected to be taken up by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly.
Russia’s veto power under the UNSC seems to be at the centre of Ukraine’s concerns.
What is a VETO power?
According to the UN, the veto power is probably the UN Charter’s most significant distinction between permanent and non-permanent members. Article 27 (3) of the Charter establishes that all substantive decisions of the Council must be made with “the concurring votes of the permanent members”.
Each of the Council’s 15 members has the right to exercise one vote, but only the five permanent members (The United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France) have veto power.
Veto power means that if any one of the permanent member states casts a negative vote in a pending UNSC decision, the resolution cannot be approved.
What happened in UNSC meet?
After Russia cast its veto, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “We are united behind Ukraine and its people, despite a reckless, irresponsible permanent member of the Security Council abusing its power to attack its neighbor and subvert the U.N. and our international system.”
Additionally, China`s abstention comes weeks after Beijing and Moscow declared a “no limits” partnership. This partnership promises backing each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the West.
In the UNSC, Russia`s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia thanked the Security Council members who did not support the draft, which he described as anti-Russian.
“Your draft resolution is nothing other than yet another brutal, inhumane move in this Ukrainian chessboard,” Nebenzia said after the vote.
There was a rare round of applause in the Security Council chamber after Ukraine`s U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya held a moment of silence during his statement to remember those killed.
“I`m not surprised that Russia voted against. Russia is keen on continuing its Nazi-style course of action,” he said.
The diplomats informed that the U.N. vote was delayed two hours for last minute negotiations by the United States and others to win China`s abstention.
The council softened the language in its resolution to say it “deplores” Russia`s “aggression against Ukraine” from “condemns,” while a reference to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sanctions and authorization of force, was removed along with a reference to “the president.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine as the U.N. Security Council met in New York late on Wednesday to try and defuse weeks of mounting tensions.
“Make no mistake. Russia is isolated. It has no support for the invasion of Ukraine,” Britain`s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council after the vote.
The draft Security Council resolution demanded that Russia “immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
The draft also demanded that Russia reverse its recognition of two separatist states in eastern Ukraine as independent.
“It is a matter of regret that the path of diplomacy was given up. We must return to it. For all these reasons India has chosen to abstain on this resolution,” India`s U.N. Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti told the council.
UAE Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said her country supported the draft resolution`s emphasis on abiding by international law and the U.N. Charter and was committed to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of all U.N. member states.
Standing outside the Security Council chamber, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “We must never give up.”
“It is important to remember that the U.N. is not just the chamber behind me. It is tens of thousands of women and men around the world,” he said. “Standing, delivering, extending a lifeline of hope.”
(With agency inputs)
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