India, China abstain from vote on UN resolution on Ukraine; US opposes it

India and China were among the 33 countries which abstained from voting on a UN resolution that referred to aggression by Russia against Ukraine.

The UN General Assembly adopted a draft resolution called “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe” by vote of 105 in favour to nine agains, a UN statement said.

Among those who voted against were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Russia, Sudan and the US. India and China were among the 33 countries that abstained from the voting.

The language of the resolution was disputed by many countries. Notably, it spoke about “unprecedented challenges now facing Europe following the aggression by Russia against Ukraine and against Georgia prior to that”.

It sought to promptly restore and maintain peace and security based on respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of any state.

Luxembourg, which holds the current chair of the Council of Europe, said the biennial resolution, first adopted at the Assembly’s 55th session in 2000, has traditionally been adopted by consensus.

The Russian delegation at the UNGA accused the Council of Europe of becoming a platform for promoting pseudo-legal, legally null and void initiatives.

The US said the UN aimed for peaceful settlement of disputes yet the resolution repeated statements that were unhelpful to advance the pursuit of peace.

The US said it supported efforts to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.