Diplomats told AFP, Thursday, that Russia has abandoned holding a vote in the UN Security Council, Friday, on a resolution related to the war in Ukraine, due to the lack of support from its closest allies.
• Read also: Biden threatens Xi with retaliation if China sends military aid to Russia
• Read also: Russia is threatened by default
• Read also: Ottawa sanctioned 22 high-ranking Belarusian officials
“They called for joint sponsorship” of their text, which they said focused on humanitarian issues, said one ambassador, who spoke on condition of anonymity, “and there was no going back,” noting that neither China nor India supported the controversial Russian initiative and had voted for it.
On Thursday, Russia confirmed its renunciation during an emergency Security Council meeting demanded by the West.
The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, told the Security Council, without looking at his counterparts, that his eyes were fixed on his text “We have decided not to ask for a vote” on this resolution on Friday.
Previously, Russia suffered a greenwood barrage from several Security Council members over its initiative for a humanitarian text that “condemns attacks on civilians” and demands protection of civilians to ensure they leave Ukrainian cities.
It is “the biggest hypocrisy, the size of Russia”, and “it should be in the Guinness Book of Records”, dubbed by the Albanian ambassador, Ferit Hoxha. He stressed that the war had created “three million refugees in three weeks”, equal to the entire population of Albania.
His British counterpart, Barbara Woodward, denounced the “deviant” initiative. What a “cynical game in the face of extreme human suffering,” the diplomat protested.
