Ukraine, UN draft resolution: “For peace, the country is intact”
A motion for a resolution to be presented to the United Nations General Assembly on the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine underlines the need for a peace that guarantees “sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. The draft resolution, obtained by the Associated Press, is broader and less detailed than the 10-point peace plan announced in November by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Guardian reports it. An emergency session of the Assembly on Ukraine will begin on February 22 and the vote is scheduled for the following day, spokeswoman for the General Assembly president, Paulina Kubiak, said. The UN General Assembly has become the most important UN body dealing with Ukraine, as the Security Council – charged with maintaining international peace and security – is paralyzed by Russia’s veto power . The draft resolution supported by Ukraine was distributed Thursday evening to all UN member countries, with the exception of Russia and its ally Belarus, and negotiations on the text began yesterday afternoon, according to diplomatic sources. The draft stresses the need to achieve “a comprehensive, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine “as soon as possible”, in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter. And it reiterates the General Assembly’s earlier demand that Russia “immediately, fully and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces” from Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. As well as emphasizing that no territory acquired by the threat or use of force will be considered legal. Among other things, the document calls for the “complete exchange” of prisoners of war, the release of people detained illegally, “and the return of all internees and civilians forcibly transferred and deported, including children”.
