Most UN members ready to support resolution on peace in Ukraine

Reuters reports. 

On Wednesday, February 22, Ukraine and Russia competed for votes at the United Nations. The vote was in the 193-member General Assembly, which the United States said would "go down in history."

"We will see where the nations of the world stand on the matter of peace in Ukraine," said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Russia's invasion and called the Charter unambiguous.

He recalled that all members must refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

Ukraine and its supporters hope to increase Russia's diplomatic isolation by getting nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly to vote in favor.

They argue that war is a case of unprovoked illegal invasion of another country by one country, while Russia tries to portray that it is at war with the West, which has been arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow since the invasion.

"The West has brazenly ignored our concerns and continues bringing the military infrastructure of NATO closer and closer to our borders," Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the General Assembly.

The draft UN resolution, which is non-binding but carries political weight, expands on last year's General Assembly demand that Moscow withdraw its troops and stop the fighting.