UK backs public UN vote on resolution condemning Russia's sham referendums in Ukraine, after Russia asks for secret ballot 

Reuters reported the story 

On Tuesday or Wednesday the UN General Assembly is slated vote on a draft resolution condemning "illegal so-called referenda" and "attempted illegal annexation" carried out by Russia. The resolution also confirms Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

In a letter to UN member states earlier this week, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, had called for a secret ballot, arguing that "pressure from the West" may make it difficult for some countries to express their position publicly.

In response, the UK's ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said the General Assembly's rules made clear that a secret ballot "would go against decades of precedent and undermine the practice of the world's most representative deliberative body."

In turn, Nebenzya proposed that the issue of whether or not the resolution would be voted on in secret or publicly itself be put to the vote.