WASHINGTON — Russia stood alone Friday to veto a U.N. resolution condemning its “brutal” invasion of Ukraine, killing the measure — for now. But all other members in the solemn session of the U.N. Security Council either voted in favor or abstained, testament to rounds of intensive diplomatic pleas by the Biden administration.
The U.S.-drafted measure, which demands the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Russian troops battering Ukraine, was approved by 11 members. Most notably, China, thought to be in Moscow’s corner, abstained. So did two U.S. allies, India and the United Arab Emirates, in a disappointment for the U.S.
But American diplomats marked as a major victory that what they called Russia’s “isolation” was so starkly drawn. And they vowed they will carry the measure to the full 193-member General Assembly, where there are no vetoes and only a simple majority is needed to pass.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that she was not surprised by the Russian veto but that it would not deter efforts to rebuke and stop Moscow’s aggression.
“You cannot veto our voices. You cannot veto our principles. You cannot veto the truth. You cannot veto the Ukrainian people,” she said, looking directly at the Russian representative, Vasily Nebenzya, who in one of the vagaries of U.N. politics, happened to be chairing the session. “And you will not veto accountability.”
Senior U.S. diplomats had been in intense talks around the clock with their counterparts from dozens of countries hoping to persuade them to back the resolution.
The Security Council vote came after increased economic sanctions the Biden administration imposed on Russia on Thursday — and on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself on Friday — which had been augmented by a series of measures by the European Union.
Rallying majority support for the resolution, however, had been a surprisingly difficult task for American diplomats. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and his deputy, Wendy R. Sherman, as well as other officials, had been on the phone to counterparts from a host of nations, including Portugal, Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Those efforts followed months of in-person and virtual consultations and warnings among allies of Russia’s designs on Ukraine.
India, for example, has been an especially prickly case. In addition to historic ties with Moscow, New Delhi in recent years has built a significant defense and diplomatic partnership with Washington.
But India was tepid in its initial response to Russia’s aggression. During a Security Council session that unfolded in New York on Wednesday night as Putin unleashed Russian troops on Ukraine, India’s representative called for de-escalation but did not condemn Moscow.
Ukraine’s ambassador to India, Igor Polikha, made a public plea to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week to appeal directly to Putin, saying Delhi’s “special relationship” with Russia might carry weight, according to India Today Television.
U.S. diplomats had said the best they could hope for from China in the Security Council vote was an abstention. President Xi Jinping has been publicly measured in support for the invasion. Although he values a growing relationship with Moscow, he may also be reluctant to pick too bitter a fight with the U.S. and NATO.
In a news conference Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin attempted to thread the needle, saying China strongly urges respect for “sovereignty and territorial integrity” in all countries. But he also said Russia had “legitimate” security concerns involving Ukraine.
“China maintains that all should discard the Cold War mentality and eventually put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through dialogue and negotiation,” he said in Beijing.
The Biden administration official rejected any suggestion that the difficulty in putting together a united front reflected the impotence of consensus-based global organizations like the United Nations and especially the Security Council, where Russia and China are permanent members, along with the United States, France and Germany. Russia currently holds the rotating president’s seat in the council.
“It’s important that we send a message to Ukraine, to Russia, and to the world that the Security Council will not look away,” said the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations. “The Council was established to respond to precisely this scenario: a stronger country waging war against a weaker neighbor in violation of the U.N. Charter and the principles of the U.N. Charter.”
But another senior administration official, who also spoke without attribution, acknowledged that galvanizing a response to Russia has been a long slog.
The State Department “started ringing the alarm bells publicly in November,” the official said. “We did this privately late last year, when we went to the countries you would expect. We also had discussions with countries that you may not expect. Really just to make the point that every responsible country, every country of influence, should have used that influence to indicate to Putin that this kind of aggression would be met with a swift and severe response.”
