U.N. resolution affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity, Belarus, Syria, North Korea back annexation
The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday approved a resolution calling the Crimean referendum to secede from Ukraine invalid. The vote on the resolution was 100-11, with 58 countries abstaining.
The 11 nations that voted against the resolution are: Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
“The wide differences in the positions of the UN member states, a large number of those abstained and not present at the voting have become an eloquent testimony to the rejection of the one-sided treatment of the developments in Ukraine. At the same time it is known what kind of brazen pressure was exerted, even political blackmail and economic threats used against a number of the member states to make them vote ‘for,’” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
Resolutions from the United Nations’ General Assembly, unlike those from the Security Council, are non-binding. So a vote for or against a measure — like the one Thursday that says Crimea’s referendum to break away from Ukraine was not valid — doesn’t mean any action will be taken. But any action in the Security Council has been blocked by Russia, which is one of the five permanent members and so has veto power. It can’t block a resolution in the General Assembly, however.
