China Stands With Russia In Controversial UNSC Ukraine Resolution That Doesn’t Reference “Invasion”

On Wednesday there was another showdown at the UN Security Council, where a vote on a Russian-written resolution which sought to acknowledge the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine was overwhelmingly defeated, with 13 Abstentions and only 2 Yes votes.

The resolution did not mention the Russian invasion as causing the crisis, and thus was easily shot down by Western powers – though most interesting is that China was Russia’s only other “yes” vote. 

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, had claimed that the proposed resolution represented a statement addressing the Ukraine conflict that “is not politicized”; however US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield rejected that assertion, charging that the resolution was all about Russia “attempting to use this council to provide cover for its brutal actions.”

Here’s now the vote broke down according to The Washington Post:

To be adopted, Russia needed a minimum of nine “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council and no veto by one of the four other permanent members — the U.S., Britain, France and China. But Russia got support only from its ally China, with the 13 other council members abstaining, reflecting Moscow’s failure to get widespread backing for its war in Ukraine, which marks its one-month anniversary Thursday.

Further, according to the Post, “Russia introduced its resolution on March 15. A day earlier, France and Mexico decided to move their proposed humanitarian resolution blaming the Russian invasion for the humanitarian crisis out of the Security Council, where it faced a Russian veto. The are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly.”

So it’s at this point clear that as the UNSC attempts to draft a statement condemning the ongoing Russian assault on Ukraine, China is emerging as a major obstacle. 

As Reuters notes, for it to pass a “Security Council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, Britain, France or the United States to be adopted” – meaning that UNSC gridlock on Ukraine will inevitably remain for the foreseeable future.

With Washington now calling out China for its alleged behind-the-scenes cooperation with Russia on possible weapons transfers and sanctions evasion (according to the Biden administration allegations), Beijing is likely only to dig in its heels deeper in quiet support of Moscow at the UNSC.