Thailand refuses to condemn Russia at UN Assembly

Thailand refused to condemn Russia’s decision to annex parts of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday.

In September, Russia proclaimed its annexation of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – after staging what it called referendums.

Ukraine, the UN General Assembly, and their allies refused to recognise the referendums, saying the votes were illegal and coercive.

Thailand abstained in the vote on the United Nations resolution along with 35 other nations including China and India, at the UN Headquarters in New York City, New York, United States.

The vote results revealed 143 member states were in favour, five voted against while there were 35 abstentions. Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria, all voted against the resolution.

Now the resolution is passed, the Assembly called on all states, the UN, and the international community not to recognize Russia’s annexation claims and demand an immediate reversal.

Ukraine’s UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said the vote was “amazing” and showed Russia could not intimidate the world.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the General Assembly ahead of the vote that the resolution was “politicised and openly provocative,” adding that it “could destroy any and all efforts in favour of a diplomatic solution to the crisis.”

The UN move is similar to what happened in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea. At the time, the General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the referendum invalid with 100 votes in favour, 11 against and 58 formal abstentions.

China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang stated the resolution is not helpful.

“Any action taken by the General Assembly should be conducive to the de-escalation of the situation, to be conducive to the early resumption of dialogue and should be conducive to the promotion of a political solution to this crisis.”

Democratic Republic of Congo UN Ambassador Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja highlighted the hypocrisy and double standards of the West, cherry picking what is illegal and what is not illegal.

“We deplore the politics of the double standards of the powerful of this world when it comes to Africa.

“We support Ukraine. We want to see the war ended. But we would like to see the international community take similar action against other situations in the world where countries are being invaded and occupied.”

Thailand also abstained in a vote to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in April this year, citing inclusivity. In March, Thailand did, however, vote to condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

Last month the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, stated he appreciated Thailand’s impartiality regarding the conflict in Ukraine.