UN approves Ukrainian Peace Formula, harmful amendments "shot down"
The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a draft resolution that incorporates key provisions of the Peace Formula proposed by Ukraine in the autumn of 2022 – a ten-point plan designed to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This is reported by a correspondent of European Pravda.
On Thursday, at an emergency session of the General Assembly, 141 UN member states voted in favour of the resolution, another 39 abstained from voting (including Iran, Kazakhstan and China), and seven countries opposed it: Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.
Among other things, the resolution demands that the Russian Federation "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its armed forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders".
It also calls for the proper treatment of prisoners of war, full compliance with international humanitarian law, and "an immediate end to attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine".
It specifically mentions the need to "ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine through appropriate, fair and independent investigations and prosecutions at the national or international level."
The resolution also calls on UN members to work together to overcome the global consequences of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and "emphasises that arrangements to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine should take these factors into account."
At the same time, the UN General Assembly rejected two amendments proposed by Belarus that aimed to "water down" the resolution. The first condemned statements made by foreign leaders regarding the Minsk agreements, and the other called for an end to military assistance to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted, "I am grateful to all the countries that endorsed the crucial UN General Assembly resolution ‘Principles of the Charter of the United Nations that underline the comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine’."
He said the resolution was a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine, a powerful testament to the global community’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people in the context of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale aggression, and a powerful manifestation of global support for Ukraine’s Peace Formula.
I am grateful to all the countries that endorsed the crucial @UN General Assembly resolution "Principles of the Charter of the United Nations that underline the comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine". 1/2 pic.twitter.com/nFx8OuOMug
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 23, 2023
In his speech at the G20 summit in autumn 2022, the President of Ukraine presented a 10-point peace plan, which covers issues such as security, including food and energy security, and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
The United States, the European Union and Türkiye, among others, later expressed support for the plan, and the Ukrainian side said it intended to hold an event focusing on the Peace Formula on the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
Background: In October 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, carried by 143 out of 193 votes, condemning the illegal "referendums" that Russia held in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
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