The European Union has redoubled diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine.
But not just any, at any price, but rather one that leads to a "fair, comprehensive and lasting peace in line with the Charter of the United Nations", Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, reiterated this Thursday, after speaking in a cooperation meeting of the Security Council and the EU and a day after addressing the eleventh extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
The landing of 25 Union foreign ministers, and their intervention in the global forum, instead of the usual representation of the designated ambassadors to the UN, has raised the level of diplomatic pressure, with a single objective:
that the resolution urging Russia to immediately end hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine achieved widespread support, exceeding the 143 votes that, in October, set the international community's record unanimity in rejecting four illegal referendums on annexation in eastern Ukraine.
The result has fallen slightly short, with 141 supports, seven noes and 32 abstentions, including China, as well as Iran and India.
The vote took place on the eve of the first anniversary of a war that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, described the day before as an "affront to the global collective conscience".
set the international community's record unanimity in rejecting four illegal annexation referendums in eastern Ukraine.
The result has fallen slightly short, with 141 supports, seven noes and 32 abstentions, including China, as well as Iran and India.
The vote took place on the eve of the first anniversary of a war that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, described the day before as an "affront to the global collective conscience".
set the international community's record unanimity in rejecting four illegal annexation referendums in eastern Ukraine.
The result has fallen slightly short, with 141 supports, seven noes and 32 abstentions, including China, as well as Iran and India.
The vote took place on the eve of the first anniversary of a war that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, described the day before as an "affront to the global collective conscience".
The discordant note of Hungary, which has voted in favor of the resolution but distancing itself in its speech from the unitary European position, and the question of whether China, which abstained from the vote, would finally present an alternative proposal for a resolution —the ambassador of Beijing was the last participant in this Thursday's session, the second, before the vote - they have tarnished the diplomatic effort, as the very result of the vote: against the Western majority that has closed ranks around Ukraine and against Russia , the abstentionist bloc, which sees the invasion of Ukraine as someone else's problem, remains unchanged.
The European Union, the main promoter of a resolution that some 60 countries had signed as of Wednesday night, had tried to attract the so-called global south in its rejection of Russian aggression, which has been militant since the war began on the side of abstention despite that the consequences of the conflict (the food and energy security crisis, above all) affect him greatly.
In the tiny group supporting Russia, formed by Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria and, this Thursday, also by Eritrea and Mali, the ambassador of the Government of Minsk, a traditional Russian satellite, presented on Thursday two amendments to the resolution as a diplomatic compromise, which have been rejected in the vote this Thursday.
Reflecting a growing sensitivity in the international arena, the dissonance of Hungary has fallen like a jug of cold water, especially in the European bloc, although the resolution of the Assembly is symbolic and technically non-binding, the only way to pronounce that it was left to the UN given the blockade in the Security Council by the right of Russian veto.
Péter Szijjártó, the Hungarian foreign minister, refused to condemn Russia, instead opting for a speech that sounds similar to that of Moscow: “Neither the surrender of arms nor sanctions [pillars of European policy towards Ukraine] save lives;
on the contrary, they contribute to the escalation and prolongation of the conflict and bring more suffering”, he stated.
The head of Hungarian diplomacy urged the international community to "focus on an immediate ceasefire", without conditions, as Russia claims,
to "launch peace talks."
Szijjárto, that
he bypassed
the EU by proposing “direct talks between the US and Russia within the UN”, he also avoided calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Despite this speech, like the rest of the EU members, his country ended up voting in favor of the resolution.
On the resolution proposal promoted, among others, by the EU, which did not include any reference to the 10-point peace plan launched by the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, to reach a greater consensus, the shadow of the possible announcement by part of China of an alternative, as a third diplomatic way, on the content of which the head of diplomacy in Beijing, Wang Yi, reported to President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
Yi met last weekend in Munich with Dmitro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, who also participated in the plenary session of the Assembly, although Kiev diplomatic sources claimed this Wednesday that they did not know details of the initiative, which no one dares to describe. of a “peace plan”, but rather a proposal for a “political solution” to the conflict.
Throughout this year, in the previous five resolutions adopted by the UN —and always by the same instance, the Assembly—, Beijing has oscillated between understanding Russian arguments and formal, technical neutrality, as demonstrated by its abstention in the votes. , including this Thursday.
Dai Bing, deputy ambassador to the UN, has promised to disclose the already proposed plan to kyiv and Moscow, while stressing that "conflicts and wars have no winners."
"No matter how difficult the road to a political solution is, (it) cannot be closed," he declared.
Some Latin American countries, such as Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia or Uruguay, which have supported abstention in the last 12 months, could join the third path.
Brazil and Cuba planned to present their position after the vote,
positive the first and abstention the second.
Added to the mystery of the Latin American countries is that of the African countries, a continent in which Chinese economic influence and Russian military presence have increased exponentially in recent years.
Finally, as on previous occasions, abstention has been imposed and the ambitious closing ranks against Moscow that the West expected has not occurred, despite the vast majority of yeses.
Eleven countries did not participate in the vote.
abstention has been imposed and the ambitious closing ranks against Moscow that the West expected has not occurred, despite the vast majority of yeses.
Eleven countries did not participate in the vote.
abstention has been imposed and the ambitious closing ranks against Moscow that the West expected has not occurred, despite the vast majority of yeses.
Eleven countries did not participate in the vote.
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