NEW YORK (Aftenposten): In recent days, the general meeting held an extraordinary emergency meeting.

141 countries at the United Nations voted in favor of the resolution resolution Which condemns, among other things, Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the country’s theft of nuclear weapons. The United Nations also calls on the Russians to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all their military forces from the territory of Ukraine.”

35 countries abstained, while 5 countries voted against. In addition to Russia, these were Syria, North Korea, Belarus and Eritrea.

And so the resolution, which needed a two-thirds majority, was adopted.

“Open and sarcastic threats”

Before the vote, Russia accused the West of using “explicit and cynical threats” to get UN member states to vote in favor of the resolution. They called on all countries to vote against it.

The decision follows a three-day emergency meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. More than a hundred countries spoke about the war from the podium. Norway spoke in cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Let me be clear: Every civilian killed, every war crime will be recorded, and we will ensure that those behind these heinous crimes are held accountable, said Denmark’s ambassador to the United Nations, speaking on behalf of Norway and other countries.

The fact that the meeting takes place at all underlines the seriousness of the situation. The General Assembly of this type of meeting has met only 11 times in the history of the United Nations.

not binding

A resolution condemning Russia is not legally binding, and therefore the action is primarily symbolic.

The decision may still matter, according to the international think tank Crisis Group.

This will help increase pressure on Russia and could, among other things, give UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the support he needs to take a more active role.

Criticize a referendum

Even after Russia annexed Crimea, the General Assembly adopted a resolution. At that time, 100 countries voted in favor of a text declaring the referendum organized by Russia on the status of Crimea invalid. 11 countries voted against it and 58 countries abstained.

Just as in 2014, attempts to find out similar resolutions in the United Nations Security Council have been stymied.

The reason is that Russia, as a permanent member of the Council, has a veto. In the General Assembly, no country has a veto.

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