UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and demands the withdrawal of its forces, sending a strong message on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion that Moscow’s aggression must end.
The 141-7 vote with 32 abstentions was slightly below the highest vote for the five previous resolutions approved by the 193-member world body since Russia sent troops and tanks across the border into its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.
The General Assembly has become the most important UN body dealing with Ukraine because the Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, is paralyzed by Russia’s veto power. Its resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions, but serve as a barometer of world opinion.
Foreign ministers and diplomats from more than 75 countries addressed the assembly during two days of debate, with many urging support for the resolution that upholds Ukraine’s territorial integrity, a basic principle of the UN Charter that all countries must subscribe to when they join the world organization.
The war has killed tens of thousands on both sides and has reduced entire cities to ruins and its impact has been felt worldwide in higher food and fuel costs and rising inflation.
In his own appeal, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said Ukrainians deserve “not only our compassion, but also our support and solidarity.”
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock asked countries that claim “that by arming Ukraine, we are pouring oil into the fire” why Western nations would do that.
“The West didn’t want or choose the war and would rather focus all its energy and money on fixing schools, fighting the climate crisis or strengthening social justice,” she told the assembly. “But the truth is: If Russia stops fighting, this war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends.”
Venezuela’s deputy ambassador addressed the council on behalf of 16 countries that either voted against or abstained on almost all of five previous resolutions on Ukraine: Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, St. Vincent, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
While other countries focused on Russia’s actions, Deputy Ambassador Joaquín Pérez Ayestarán said Wednesday that all countries without exception “must stringently comply with the United Nations Charter.”
He said the countries in his group were against what he called divisive action in the General Assembly, and for “a spirit of compromise.”
China’s deputy UN ambassador Dai Bing told the assembly Thursday: “We support Russia and Ukraine in moving toward each other, resuming direct dialogue as soon as possible, bringing their legitimate concerns into the negotiation, setting out feasible options, and giving a chance to an early end of the crisis and the rebuilding of peace.”
“The international community should make joint efforts to facilitate peace talks.”
But European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters the aggressor and the victim can’t be put on equal terms, and Ukraine cannot be asked not to defend itself.
Unhappily, he said, “Russia has not sent any positive signal of any minimum willingness to work for a peace.”
He said “that’s reality” and everyone who went to the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin will continue with his so-called special military operation “until he gets the military objective that he has been unable to get.”
UN approves resolution calling for Russia to leave Ukraine
https://arab.news/wscj2
UN approves resolution calling for Russia to leave Ukraine
- Foreign ministers from more than a dozen European nations and Japan called for support for the resolution that upholds Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Berlin mayor warns on infrastructure after power station attack
- The far-left Volcano activist group claimed several attacks in Berlin and the neighboring Brandenburg region
- Germany and other Western powers have been on the alert for sabotage attacks on power, communications and transport systems
BERLIN: Berlin’s mayor said on Monday the German capital’s core infrastructure needed better protection two days after an arson attack on a power station left tens of thousands of people without power.
The far-left Volcano activist group claimed responsibility for the attack which also shut down mobile phone connections, cut heating during freezing weather, stopped trains and forced hospitals to switch to back-up generators.
“Left-wing terrorism is back in Germany with increasing intensity,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told the Bild newspaper in an interview.
Volcano, which says it is against the energy industry’s use of fossil fuels, has claimed several attacks in Berlin and the neighboring Brandenburg region.
“There will be talks which we have to have with the federal government about how we can better protect our critical infrastructure, especially in the area of the capital,” Berlin mayor Kai Wegner told a news conference.
Germany and other Western powers have also been on the alert for sabotage attacks on power, communications and transport systems at a time of increasing geopolitical uncertainty.
A blaze early on Saturday destroyed a cable duct over a canal, cutting power in around 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses in the southwest of the city, including the prosperous areas of Zehlendorf and Wannsee.
Electricity has since been restored for some 14,500 households but full restoration is not expected until Thursday afternoon, Stromnetz Berlin, the city’s network operator, said.
In 2024, the Volcano group claimed responsibility for a suspected arson attack on a power pylon near Tesla’s car factory outside Berlin.
In its most recent annual report, the domestic intelligence agency said left-wing militancy was a growing danger and made explicit reference to the Volcano group.
Bernhard Büllmann, head of Stromnetz Berlin, said restoring electricity to areas still without power would be a complex operation involving high-tension lines that required specialist staff.
