China and India, so far opposed to condemning Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, have voted on a resolution of the UN General Assembly relating to relations between the United Nations and the Council of Europe which explicitly refers to the "aggression of the Russian Federation of Ukraine'.
The green light to the text of the resolution (approved last week with 122 votes in favour, 5 against and 18 abstentions) represents a first diplomatic change of course in the position of Delhi and Beijing towards Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. A step appreciated by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who commented on Twitter: «The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on cooperation with the Council of Europe with 122 votes, including the main partners
of the G20 such as China, Brazil, India and Indonesia. We welcome the resolution, which clearly qualifies the war against Ukraine as 'aggression by the Russian Federation'.
The resolution did not specifically concern the war in Ukraine, but the preamble states that: "Considering equally that the unprecedented difficulties Europe is currently facing as a result of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and against Georgia earlier, and the termination of the membership of the Russian Federation by the Council of Europe, require enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe".
Instead they voted against, in addition to Russia, Belarus, Syria, Nicaragua and
North Korea.
(Unioneonline/lf)
