By a vote of 13 to one, the UN body invited Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to join in the meeting via video conference.
New Delhi: India voted against Russia during a “procedural vote” on Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, when the 15-member powerful UN body invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address a meeting via video teleconference.
India has voted against Russia on the topic of Ukraine for the first time since the Russian military intervention began in February. So far, New Delhi has abstained on Ukraine at the UN Security Council, much to the chagrin of Western nations led by the United States.
Following the aggression, Western nations, especially the United States, slapped Russia with severe economic and other sanctions.
India has not condemned Russia’s actions against Ukraine. New Delhi has repeatedly urged the Russian and Ukrainian sides to return to the road of diplomacy and negotiation. It has backed all diplomatic attempts to end the crisis between the two nations.
India is now a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term that expires in December.
As the meeting opened, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily A Nebenzia requested a procedural vote on the Ukrainian President’s video teleconference participation.
Following his and Albanian Prime Minister Ferit Hoxha’s words, the Council invited Zelensky to join in the meeting via video teleconference by a vote of 13 to one. Russia and China both voted against such an invitation.
Soon after, Zelensky called for the Russian Federation to be held accountable for its aggression against Ukraine in a video conference. “If Moscow is not stopped now,” he continued, “all these Russian murderers will wind up in other countries.”
“The future of the globe will be decided on Ukrainian soil,” he continued. “Our freedom is your security,” he told the UN Security Council.
Zelensky claimed that Russia had brought the world to the brink of nuclear.
Zelensky claimed that Russia had brought the world to the brink of a nuclear disaster by declaring the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station a combat zone. The plant has six reactors — only one of which detonated at Chernobyl — and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must take permanent supervision of the situation as soon as possible, according to him.
The Ukrainian President demanded that Russia stop its “nuclear blackmail” and withdraw totally from the plant.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced severe concern over the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility, emphasising that “warning lights are blinking.”
Any actions that endanger the plant’s physical integrity, safety, or security are unacceptable. Any further escalation of the situation could lead to self-destruction, he said, calling for the plant’s security to be ensured, and the facility re-established as purely civilian infrastructure. An IAEA mission to the site is to be conducted as soon as possible.
In addition, Guterres raised to worry about alleged abuses of international humanitarian law.
According to US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield, “Russia’s goal is as clear as ever: to dismantle Ukraine as a geopolitical entity and erase it from the world map. Its disinformation campaigns are increasingly being weaponised to prepare for further attempts to annex Ukrainian territory,” she warned.
However, she informed the UN Security Council that Russia’s attempt to modify Ukraine’s boundaries by force will never be recognised.
She stated that the Russian Federation irresponsibly invaded and seized control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, threatening catastrophic tragedy.
The US envoy expressed alarm about Moscow’s “so-called filtration operation,” which involves the systematic and forcible deportation of Ukrainian citizens to isolated areas of Russia.
On occasion, envoys from France, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Gabon, Ghana, Mexico, and China spoke, as did the European Union’s position as observers.
Ukraine commemorated its Independence Day on Wednesday, six months after Russia launched its military offensive on the country on February 24.
