African countries divided on UN vote against Russia over the annexation of Ukraine
African countries divided on the UN vote against Russia over the illegal annexation of four regions of Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday condemned Russia’s “illegal annexations” of Ukrainian territory with African countries divided over the matter.
Twenty-six African countries voted in favour of a UN resolution rejecting Moscow’s contentious referendums in four Ukrainian regions that it declared part of Russia.
Nineteen countries abstained, including Eritrea which had previously voted to reject a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s perceived allies, including Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are also among other African countries that abstained.
Three of these countries hosted Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov when he toured the region in July.
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome were absent from the assembly.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba toured Africa to counter Russia’s apparent hold on the continent and persuade leaders to support Kyiv.
However, he was forced to cut the visit short after Moscow heightened bombardments on Ukraine.
The General Assembly of the 193 member states had met in an emergency meeting.
It adopted the resolution with 143 votes in favour, with five countries against and 35 abstaining, including China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, despite diplomatic efforts by the United States.
The five states that voted against were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Nicaragua.
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