General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions, but serve as a barometer of world opinion. The seven countries voting against Thursday's resolution were Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Mali, which has developed close military ties with Russia. But China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dai Bing, told the assembly Thursday: “We support Russia and Ukraine in moving towards each other. More broadly, Russia and Ukraine have been trying to win support from around the world. Russia is Africa’s top arms supplier and Odongo also noted that most of his country’s military equipment is Russian-made.
Continue reading...