Armenia abstains from UN bill demanding Russia withdraw from Ukraine

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia was among the 35 countries that abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution demanding that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally” withdraw its military forces from Ukraine, which was adopted on Wednesday, March 2 at a rare emergency session of the UN General Assembly.

The bill was supported by 141 of the UN’s 193 members, which just five – Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Russia – voted against it.

The resolution “deplores” Russia’s “aggression against Ukraine” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.

While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they carry political weight, with Wednesday’s vote representing a symbolic victory for Ukraine and increasing Moscow’s international isolation.

Even Russia’s traditional ally Serbia voted against it.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the General Assembly’s message was “loud and clear”, Al Jazeera reports.

“End hostilities in Ukraine – now. Silence the guns – now,” he said in a statement. “As bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse. The ticking clock is a time bomb.”

The last time the Security Council convened an emergency session of the General Assembly was in 1982, according to the UN website.