India abstains UNSC resolution on Moscow's ‘illegal referenda’ in 4 Ukraine regions

India, citing the "totality of the evolving situation," has abstained on a UN Security Council resolution, that would have condemned Moscow's “illegal referenda” and declared its annexation of four Ukrainian territories as invalid. It is important to note that Russia vetoed this resolution.

The 15-nation UN Security Council voted on Friday on the draft resolution tabled by the US and Albania on “Illegal So-Called Referenda in Ukraine”, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a lavish ceremony in the Kremlin, signed treaties to annex the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Addressing the Council after the vote, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, said that India is deeply disturbed by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine and New Delhi has always advocated that no solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives.

"We urge that all efforts are made by concerned sides for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment,” she said in the explanation of the vote.

“The path to peace requires us to keep all channels of diplomacy open,” she said. Underlining that India’s position has been clear and consistent from the very beginning of this conflict, Kamboj said the global order is anchored on the principles of the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all states.

“Escalation of rhetoric or tensions is in no one’s interest. It is important that pathways are found for a return to the negotiating table. Keeping in view the totality of the evolving situation, India has decided to abstain on this resolution,” she said.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the outcomes of Russia’s “sham referenda were pre-determined” in Moscow.

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She said if Russia chooses to shield itself from accountability, then "we will take further steps in the General Assembly” to send an unmistakable message to Moscow that the world is still on the side of defending sovereignty and protecting territorial integrity.

Russia’s Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia said before the vote that the results of the referendum speak for themselves and that the residents of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.

He added that more than 100 international observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Latvia, and other states, who monitored the voting, also recognised the results to be legitimate.

“Washington which today is the loudest to criticise us and to speak of the territorial integrity of Ukraine recently declared that they were willing to use force to protect Taiwan which is an integral part of the People's Republic of China,” he said.

The resolution tabled by the US and Albania would have condemned Russia’s organisation of “illegal so-called referenda” in regions within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders.

It would have declared that Russia’s "unlawful actions” with regards to the illegal so-called referenda taken on September 23 to 27 in parts of Ukraine’s regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya that are under Russia’s temporary control "can have no validity and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions of Ukraine, including any purported annexation of any of these regions by the Russian Federation.”

The resolution would have also called upon all States, international organisations and specialised agencies not to recognise any purported acquisition by Russia of any or all of Ukraine’s regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson or Zaporizhzhya, and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognising any such purported acquisition.

The announcement came a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter and international law.”

Referring to Modi’s remark to Putin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan's Samarkand last month that “today's era is not an era of war”, Kamboj said New Delhi sincerely hopes for an early resumption of peace talks to bring about an immediate ceasefire and resolution of the conflict.

India has previously abstained on two occasions in the Security Council and once in the UN General Assembly on resolutions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Unlike many other leading Western powers, India has not yet criticised Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and it abstained from the votes at the UN platforms in condemning the Russian aggression.

Earlier, Russian President Putin on Friday proclaimed the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

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