Known informally as the world’s “town hall”, the Assembly is where all 193 UN Member States have a voice. A total of 141 countries voted in favour of the resolution, which reaffirms Ukrainian sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Assembly President Abdulla Shahid struggled to read the results of the vote as ambassadors began applauding, and then standing up, as he started speaking.
The resolution demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
It was sponsored by more than 90 countries and needed a two-thirds majority in the Assembly to pass.
Five countries – Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea) Eritrea, Russia and Syria – voted against it, while 35 abstained.
The voting capped off a rare special emergency session of the General Assembly that began on Monday, during which countries took to the podium to declare their positions on the crisis, now entering a second week. Läs pressmeddelande