Maria Zakharova: on UN vote of Aggression against Ukraine

On November 14, the 11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly resumed its work with a vote on the resolution called Furtherance of Remedy and Reparation for Aggression against Ukraine. In effect, those who voted for this document took it upon themselves to recommend the creation of a certain international mechanism that will be managed by a separate group of countries not accountable to the UN system.

Despite its openly anti-Russia slant, the approved resolution has no weight whatsoever in the context of international law because members of the General Assembly have neither the authority nor the competence to address such issues. Nor does it have the right to determine that an act of aggression has taken place and to lay the blame on any specific party. All this is the prerogative of the UN Security Council, and Kiev’s Western supporters, who are unable to compromise, are doing all they can to divert any decision-making on issues linked with the situation in and around Ukraine away from the Security Council.

However, when it came to the need to justify the outright plunder of Russian assets, Western states stopped caring about various formalities, including the statutory powers of the main UN bodies. They also ignored the fact that the idea of obtaining reparations for the centuries of wars and attacks on sovereign states, colonial dependence and slave trade has refreshed historical memory in many parts of the world.

The results of the vote speak for themselves. The resolution obtained less substantial support than all other documents approved during the anti-Russia special session. Over half of UN member states did not support the document. Of those, 73 abstained, and 12 did not take part in the vote. We are grateful to 13 states that, together with Russia, voted against the document. They were guided by the concept of justice and firmly upheld their right to the choice of sovereign development. An overwhelming majority of those who supported the anti-Russia document will be unable to influence the operation of the mechanisms they launched in any way. They are yet to realise that the assets whose illegal appropriation they tried to approve will not be used for the needs of ordinary Ukrainians but will finance new weapons deliveries or those that have already arrived to continue bloodshed and increase the number of casualties during hostilities in Ukraine.

We highly value the position of member states of the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations, which did not support the document and insisted on conducting a discussion at the UN General Assembly pending the final decision, despite the initial plans of its authors. The growing reluctance of member states of the Non-Aligned Movement to vote in favour of such odious initiatives also deserves every respect.

The 11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly is a graphic example of the Western dogma called the rules-based order, when the rules are subject to change, depending on the situation, but always in the interests of a certain group of countries. Developments in and around Ukraine are the direct consequence of this irresponsible policy.  The only acceptable result is the creation of a truly multipolar system based on all parties’ unconditional respect for the UN Charter.