UN to ‘demand war stops now’

– The UN General Assembly was expected to vote yesterday on a new nonbinding resolution which, if adopted by a majority of member states, will “demand” that Russia stop the war in Ukraine “immediately”.

The vote comes after 141 countries approved an earlier resolution on 2 March that similarly demands Russia immediately cease the use of force against Ukraine.

In that vote, five states, including Russia, voted against and 35 abstained.

The resolution was nonbinding and, other than demonstrating Russia’s isolation on the world stage, did not appear to impact the fighting.

On Wednesday, Ukraine put the new resolution forward at another emergency session of the General Assembly in New York.

The text, which is also nonbinding, “demands an immediate cessation of the hostilities by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in particular of any attacks against civilians and civilian objects”.

It also reiterates UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for Moscow to “stop its military offensive, as well as his call to establish a ceasefire and to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations”.

The draft resolution is supported by 88 countries and had been initially prepared by France and Mexico.

The United States ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described it as “building” on the 2 March vote.

She said it “makes that appeal to the one person with the ability to stop the violence. And that’s Vladimir Putin”.

Her French counterpart, Nicolas de Riviere, said France was calling on Moscow to “stop the aggression of Ukraine, which has been killing civilians, including children, medical staff and journalists for a month”.

“It is a massacre and the worst is still ahead of us,” he continued, recalling that the “absolute priority is an immediate cessation of hostilities and full compliance with international humanitarian law.”

The resolution was debated on Wednesday and was due to be voted on yesterday. –