NEW YORK: The UN Security Council on Sunday voted on a draft resolution deciding to convene an emergency special session of the General Assembly to recommend collective action on the situation in Ukraine, two days after a similar resolution, sponsored by 81 nations, was shot down at the council on Friday by the Russian veto.
Possible action could include the use of armed force, but this has never happened in the history of the UN.
This is the first time in 40 years that a decision to hold an emergency special session of the 193-member GA has been made, and only the 11th time since the UN’s inception.
The draft resolution was tabled by the US and Albania, the two co-penholders on Ukraine. It is a so-called “Uniting for Peace” resolution, which allows a deadlocked council to refer the situation in question to the General Assembly.
The vote would require a two-thirds majority of UN member states and the affirmative vote of only nine security council members. Such GA resolutions have then historically been adopted despite a negative vote by a permanent member.
The resolution argues that the lack of unanimity among the Security Council’s permanent members on the Ukraine crisis has prevented the UN’s most important body from exercising its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
A total of 11 council members voted in favor, with China, UAE and India abstaining. Russia vetoed it.
Sunday’s vote took place amid a large-scale attack by Russian military forces on major cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, with hundreds of deaths and injuries reported.
This morning there were reports that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to hold direct talks on the border of Belarus.
The UAE’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Mohamed Abushahab, welcomed such an announcement, and reiterated his call for a cessation of hostilities and for dialogue as the only way forward. Abushahab stressed that the protection of civilians in Ukraine should remain a top priority.
