On the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, a vote is expected this evening in the United Nations General Assembly, called by Ukraine and its allies, to call for the immediate withdrawal of Russia’s military and for a ‘just and lasting’ peace in Ukraine.
The vote comes at a time when the Russian Defence Ministry has accused Ukraine of planning to invade Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova. The ministry said today that Kiev is planning an attack, alleging that Russian forces are attacking Ukraine from Transnistria as a pretext for invasion. If this step materialises, it could extend the scope of the war since the outbreak of the conflict to the borders of Eastern Europe. In today’s intelligence bulletin, the UK announced that Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive in the eastern Donbass, where the town of Volidar is under heavy bombardment.
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This came as the Wall Street Journal reported that ‘the West has information confirming that China fears Russia’s economic and political decline’ and that Western intelligence assessments ‘indicate that China will provide Russia with ammunition and electronic support to prevent this from happening’. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said today that any intelligence information the US plans to release about arms transfers from China to Russia is ‘mere speculation’.
“I appeal to you: this is a decisive moment to show support, unity and solidarity,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba told the General Assembly yesterday. Ukraine and its allies hope that the text to be voted on will receive at least as many votes as those in favour of the resolution in October. At that time, 143 countries voted in favour of the resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of some Ukrainian territory.
The draft non-binding resolution emphasises the need to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. It also ‘reaffirms its commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine, demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces and calls for a cessation of hostilities’.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, yesterday expressed his hope for peace, saying that the invasion of Ukraine was an affront to the collective conscience of humanity. “Escalation of conflict is a present danger with clear potential consequences,” Guterres said, referring in particular to nuclear dangers.
In an anti-Western rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue “systematic” aggression in Ukraine. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said the situation in Ukraine was fuelled by the West, which was waging a hybrid war triggering a global food crisis. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, said that ‘the West has nothing against Russia, this illegal war concerns everyone, North, South, East and West’.
The three resolutions on the Russian occupation that the General Assembly voted on in the past year were supported by 143 votes to 140, with some countries acting in concert with the 5 countries that systematically voted against the texts (Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea). Other countries abstained from voting. However, the level of support for the fourth resolution was slightly different (93 in favour, 24 against and 58 abstentions). This resolution provides for the suspension of Russia’s membership of the Human Rights Council.
Beijing, which abstained from voting on Ukraine at the United Nations yesterday, tried to play a mediating role by offering Moscow a vision of a political solution to the conflict. Following his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Wang Yi, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Affairs Committee, held important talks in Moscow, the Kremlin said. “The Chinese partners shared with us their thoughts on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and their approach to its political settlement,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. However, no separate peace plan was presented at the meeting, it said.
Echoes of the new START treaty continue
The previous day, Putin’s announcement that he would suspend the New START treaty on limiting nuclear weapons, signed in 2010 and the last such bilateral agreement between Russia and the United States, caused an uproar. US President Joe Biden called the move a ‘fatal mistake’ and said he had seen no evidence that Putin was ‘considering the use of nuclear weapons or anything similar’. Ukraine, on the other hand, believes that ‘Russian nuclear terrorism threatens the whole world’. Nataliya Kostenko, Ukraine’s Deputy Representative in Vienna, said that Russia was arrogantly defying the entire international community by undermining one of the most important international agreements on nuclear arms control.
On the other hand, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez travelled to Kiev ‘one year after the start of the war’. “As I get off the train in Kiev one day before the first anniversary of the war, we will support Ukraine and its people until there is peace in Europe,” Sanchez said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, called on Russians to pressure the army to provide ammunition for his men in the fighting in the eastern city of Bahmut. The call reflected tensions between the mercenaries and the Russian General Staff ahead of the anniversary of the start of the Russian offensive, which faced Ukrainian resistance and was strengthened by Western military assistance.
The source utilised in the creation of the article:: London/Sharq al-Awsat
