United Nations General Assembly passes resolution condemning Russia, Vietnam abstains

The UN General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution condemning Russia on March 2, 2022

The United Nations General Assembly on March 2 passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling on Russia to withdraw its troops immediately.

The resolution was passed with 141 votes in favor out of a total of 193 votes. Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, and China were among the 35 countries that abstained. The five countries that voted against included Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, and Syria.

The new non-binding UN resolution condemns in the strongest possible terms against Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, demanding that Russia immediately cease the use of armed forces against Ukraine, and immediately and unconditionally withdraw all troops from Ukraine.

The vote took place when the United Nations General Assembly held an emergency session on Ukraine from February 28, with representatives of countries speaking out to express their views on the Russia-Ukraine war.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the UN Dang Hoang Giang on March 1 stated Vietnam’s official stance on this war. The Vietnamese representative’s speech was arguably the most powerful of the official statements made by the Vietnamese government since the war began a week earlier.

In his speech, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, although not only by name of Russia, which has a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, condemned the wars that he believed originated from “the outdated doctrine that promotes power politics, ambition to dominate, impose and use force to settle international disputes.”

Giang also emphasized the issue of settling disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law and respecting the sovereignty of relevant countries. He said:

All international disputes should be resolved by peaceful means, based on the basic principles of international law and the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereign equality, political independence and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and no threat or use of force. All countries, large or small, must adhere to these basic principles.”

Since Russia attacked Ukraine until now, Vietnam has still avoided using the word aggression when talking about this war. Vietnam’s state-controlled media often calls the war launched by Russia a “special military operation.”

Meanwhile, some retired Vietnamese generals and public opinion shappers support Russia’s actions against Ukraine, an independent country and a member of the United Nations.

Translated by thoibao.de from the original source:https://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/news/vietnamnews/un-general-assembly-in-historic-vote-denounces-russia-over-ukraine-invasion-03022022135143.html