Friday, February 25th

The Russian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Vasily Nebenzya, vetoed the resolution from the UN’s security council calling for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine. 

The resolution called for Moscow to remove all of their troops from Ukraine immediately and provide additional humanitarian aid to help the nation. Additionally, it condemned Russia’s actions thus far and proceeded to call for de-escalation of conflict. Several members from the 15 nations on the Security Council called for peace and continued to ask Russia to withdraw.

The vote was 11-1 with China, India, and the UAE choosing to abstain, and Russia being the only dissenting nation. The other nations on the council expected the veto to occur, but the purpose of it was to highlight the international isolation Russia was facing.

Any of the five first permanent members of the UN including the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdoms have the power to veto a resolution in the Security Council. As a result of this action, the UN plans to hold a General Assembly meeting in the coming days with all 195 member nations of the organization. Resolutions in the General Assembly cannot be vetoed, and instead, are subject to a vote; however, unlike Security Council resolutions, they are not legally binding and instead, symbolic.

Additionally, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that Amin Awad, Director for the Middle East and North Africa Bureau, UNHCR, would be the official UN Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine. He will be in charge of coordinating humanitarian relief efforts for citizens involved in both sides of the conflict.

During the meeting, ambassadors from the United States and Brazil strongly condemned Russia’s invasion, while Nebenzya defended the actions of his nation. The UAE and Indian ambassadors continued to delineate their reasons for abstaining. Finally, the Ukrainian ambassador, Mr. Sergiy Kyslytsya, asked for a moment of silence for the people lost during the invasion and was met with applause.

“Time after time, when the international community has rallied together in solidarity, those values have prevailed. They will prevail, independently of what happened today,” concluded the Secretary-General. “We must do everything in our power so that they prevail in Ukraine but they prevail for all humanity.”