Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa said her country is exercising its "inherent right to self-defense" following Russia's invasion, which violates the UN Charter's requirement that countries respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations.

"As we mark three years of this devastation—Russia's full invasion against Ukraine—we call on all nations to stand firm and to take … the side of the Charter, the side of humanity and the side of just and lasting peace, peace through strength," she said.

Trump has often stated his commitment to bringing "peace through strength."

Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward warned the council, "If Russia is allowed to win, we will live in a world where might is right, where borders can be redrawn by force, where aggressors think they can act with impunity."

Denmark's Lotte Machon, a deputy foreign minister, stressed that in peace negotiations, "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about European security without Europe."

US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous UN resolutions condemning Russia and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops "have failed to stop the war," which "has now dragged on for far too long and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine and Russia and beyond."

"What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all UN member states to bring a durable end to the war," Shea said before the vote.

In the Security Council, Russia used its veto to prevent European amendments to the US resolution, which is legally blinding but essentially toothless. It only operative paragraph "Implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia."

Shea called it "a first step, but a crucial one," saying it "puts us on the path to peace."

The General Assembly has become the most important UN body on Ukraine because the Security Council has been paralyzed by Russia's veto power. It has approved half a dozen resolutions since Russian forces stormed across the border on Feb. 24, 2022.

The Ukrainian resolution adopted Monday recalls the need to implement the previous resolutions, singling out the demand that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine."

The resolution reaffirms the assembly's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and also "that no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal."

It calls for "a de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine" and it reiterates "the urgent need to end the war this year."

Adblock test (Why?)