Ukraine crisis | India abstains from UNSC resolution against Russian aggression

Draft resolution fails as Russia exercises veto

With Russia exercising its veto, a draft resolution sponsored by the U.S. and Albania, condemning Russian aggression and calling for the country’s withdrawal from Ukraine, has failed to pass the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

India, along with China and the UAE, abstained, while 11 members voted in favour of it. The U.S. vowed to take the issue to the General Assembly, where Russia does not have a veto.

Government officials said India has been speaking to all parties including Russia and Ukraine to return to the negotiating table  “By abstaining, India retained the option of reaching out to relevant sides in an effort to bridge the gap and find the middle ground with an aim to foster dialogue and diplomacy,” a source said.

The vote at the UNSC had to be postponed twice, for an hour at a time, as U.S. and Albanian diplomats, the “penholders” of the resolution, negotiated with other countries, trying to build a consensus for the draft.

However, according to officials who saw the draft, the original version was too strong, as it invoked UN Chapter VII, which authorises the use of force against Russian troops in Ukraine. After several rounds of heated negotiations, the U.S. agreed to soften the resolution and drop the Chapter VII reference, which is believed to have ensured that China also abstained along with India and the UAE, while Russia was alone in voting against the resolution. 

“Let us never forget that this is a war of choice. Russia’s choice,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S.’s permanent representative (PR) to the United Nations told the Council.

“To those who say all parties are culpable, I say that is a clear cop out. One country… one country is invading another,” she said, adding that countries who based their position on Russia having a historical relationship with Ukraine should think about whom that label would apply to next.