UN council defeats Russia humanitarian resolution on Ukraine

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly defeated a Russian resolution that acknowledged Ukraine’s growing humanitarian needs.

Russia and China cast affirmative votes, none of the Security Council’s members were against, whereas the remaining 13 members of the Security Council abstained, among them France, the UK, the US, India, Ireland, Kenia, Mexico, Norway, Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, the UAE.

For the resolution to be passed, it should be supported by at least nine members of the UN Security Council out of 15 (five permanent and ten non-permanent) provided that none of permanent members exercises a veto.

Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said that Moscow expects the United Nations Security Council to eventually do everything to ease the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

"We regret the Security Council’s failure to pass the resolution that would facilitate the solving of those [humanitarian] issues. Nevertheless, we expect us and members of the international community that are sincerely interested, to do everything to ease the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the sufferings of the civil population," he said.

The voting on Russia’s proposed resolution on the Ukrainian situation in the United Nations Security Council has brought to light those who consider politicization more important than providing humanitarian aid, according to Nebenzya.

"The voting has brought to light those who consider politicization of humanitarian dossier more important than helping the UN in providing humanitarian aid to the Ukrainians," he said. "The lack of the Security Council’s humanitarian resolution will obviously complicate the life of humanitarians on the ground, enabling the Ukrainian side to continue ignoring the requirements on cease-fire establishment to remove people via humanitarian corridors," the diplomat added.

Beijing regrets the United Nations Security Council’s failure to pass Russia’s proposed resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun said.

"The fact that the Security Council has failed to reach an approval [of the resolution] is regretful," he said, adding that the People’s Republic of China voted for the resolution as it wanted to bring to the international community "the importance of the humanitarian issue in Ukraine."