Status: 02/24/2023 01:12 a.m
The UN General Assembly condemned the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine more clearly than expected. The resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops received 141 votes in favor. It was also a success for the German foreign minister.
A lot would depend on the appearance of the German foreign minister, at least that’s how the Ukrainian representatives at the United Nations saw it. That is why Annalena Baerbock’s Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, personally campaigned for the German to be the last speaker in the General Assembly – to prevent a number of states not friendly to Ukraine, including China, from having the last word.
It succeeded. The list of speakers ended with the German: “Russia’s war of aggression has not only brought terrible suffering to the people in Ukraine. This war has left gaping wounds all over the world.” In other words, this war concerns all states, according to the message from the German Foreign Minister to the General Assembly, who referred above all to rising food and energy prices worldwide.
Baerbock’s urgent appeal
Baerbock personally worked on the text of the speech until shortly before she landed in New York. Then, really at the last minute and briefly slowed down by the traffic jams in the mega-metropolis, she arrived at the United Nations. “We want this war to end. We want peace,” she called out to the delegates at the UN special session. “The road to peace is also very clear: Russia must withdraw its soldiers from Ukraine. Russia must end the bombing. Russia must return to the UN Charter.”
With 141 votes, it was now possible to gather just as many states behind the resolution as a year ago, shortly after the Russian invasion. Ironically, Mali switched to the camp of dissenting votes – the country in which more than 1,000 Bundeswehr soldiers ensure security, but also Russian mercenaries are active.
That raises a frown, though. But in view of the fact that the number of Yes votes did not melt away, the German Foreign Minister should have been able to get over it. “With its war policy, Russia is just as isolated as it was a year ago,” Baerbock said after the vote.
Important signal of the continuous unit
The opposite signal would have been devastating. If Moscow received the message that support for the Ukraine course from Europe and the US was crumbling, Russian President Putin could have taken it as an invitation to “continue as before”. He might have felt vindicated that all he had to do was persevere and endure this war long enough – while international pressure is fading by the day.
The arms deliveries to Ukraine, combined with the signal that these will not dry up, are probably the most important means of pressure to one day force Russian President Putin to the negotiating table. International isolation is a second. If that doesn’t work, it increases Putin’s options for action.
“This result refutes the argument that the Global South would not side with Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba said afterwards.
Race in the “Global South”
For a year now, the German Foreign Minister has been traveling the globe with one ultimate goal: to win over states in the southern hemisphere as partners of Germany and Europe and to shield them from Russia’s influence. Because so much depended on this resolution, Baerbock had once again sought contact with the countries of the so-called “Global South” in the last few days: South Africa, India and Senegal, among others, but particularly intensively with Brazil, which voted in favor of the resolution .
Incidentally, Russia’s close ally China did not vote against it, but abstained – which could be a sign that it wants to be taken seriously with its announced peace plan. The Chinese representative nonetheless sharply criticized the West: “Sending in arms will not bring peace. Pouring fuel on the fire will only exacerbate tensions.”
Parallel to this statement, the “Spiegel” reports that Russia is negotiating with China about the purchase of drones. However, it was precisely this criticism and the accusation that Western weapons would only fan the flames that Annalena Baerbock addressed in her speech and also directly afterwards. If the arms deliveries stopped, the world would become even more insecure: “Because the Russian president would not end his advance, but aims to annihilate the entire Ukraine – with fatal consequences for the entire world.”
Resolution weakened in crucial places
Originally, Ukraine had planned to pour President Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan into a UN resolution. But as a precaution, they refrained from doing so. Building blocks of this 10-point plan have now been incorporated into the text, but they have been weakened at crucial points. An example: Zelenskyj’s demand to create a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes is not found there.
Resolutions of the UN General Assembly are not binding. But polls like this act like a measuring device that is able to feel the pulse of the world. A year after the Russian invasion, Putin cannot count on the world’s indifference growing as the war goes on. At the same time, there is not the slightest indication that he would be willing to engage in serious negotiations. Even if the UN is pushing for it, peace in Ukraine is just as far away as it was a year ago.