8 March 2022: Take a look at how the world is responding to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In the last segment we covered how the war has affected the sports world. In this article, we shall look at how the nations of the world are reacting to the same. The war waged by Russia has already wrecked havoc in Ukraine, and these are the latest developments from all around the world.
The United Nations voting results will give you a snapshot of what the Nations think before we take you through the details:
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Wednesday demanding that Russia immediately end its military operations in Ukraine. The resolution demanded that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
FOR, AGAINST and ABSTAINING
141 Nations voted in favour of the resolution to end the invasion
5 countries - Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Eritrea, Russia and Syria - voted against it. Or simply put, supported Russia
35 countries abstained from voting
List of Countries that abstained from voting
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Bangladesh
- Bolivia
- Burundi
- Central African Republic
- China
- Congo
- Cuba
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Mongolia
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nicaragua
- Pakistan
- Senegal
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Vietnam
- Zimbabwe
Venezuela could not vote as its voting rights had been suspended because of unpaid UN membership dues
THE COUNTRIES WHICH SUPPORTED RUSSIA AND WHY?
BELARUS:
Belarus shares the border as well as important economic and political ties with Russia. Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s authoritarian leader since 1994 has been accused of human rights violations.
EU has already imposed sanctions on Belarus due to its role in supporting Russia
SYRIA:
According to official SANA news agency, the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, in a phone call to Vladimir Putin said that what was happening in Ukraine was a “correction of history and restoration of balance which was lost in the world after the breakup of the Soviet Union”.
And why? : Russia supported Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war in 2015
NORTH KOREA:
KCNA, the country's official news agency, without quoting any official, said “The root cause of the Ukraine crisis totally lies in the hegemonic policy of the US and the West, which enforce themselves in high-handedness and abuse of power against other countries,”
The shift towards Russia seems to come more from the background of US imposing sanctions of North Korea post their missile tests in January 2022. It's not something new as the UN Security Council has passed almost a dozen resolutions sanctioning North Korea for developing nuclear weapons and related activities since 2006.
ERITORIA:
Eritrea is a one-party state ruled by Isias Afwerki and no elections have been allowed to be held 1993. An African country with an extremely low human rights record. Russia has been a supporter and has been considering a military base to gain an advantage in the Afican continent.
What does NATO say? Or does NATO really have a say?
Ukraine is not a part of NATO. Russia’s main point of concern was Ukraine’s participation in NATO which would turn out to be Russia’s strategic disaster ultimately threatening their safety. NATO's Chief Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to end the war in Ukraine and withdraw all its forces."The Russian assault is totally unacceptable and it is enabled by Belarus," Stoltenberg said after meeting Polish president Andrzej Duda. Currently NATO foreign ministers have met in Brussels for a special summit on Ukraine.The alliance has imposed more sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle. But Putin does not seem to be affected by any of these financial sanctions as of yet.
Related article by NewzPepper:
EU Parliament gives a standing ovation:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a standing ovation at the European Union parliament after delivering a heart wrenching emotional speech regarding Russia’s invasion of his country. President Zelenskyy formally submitted an application seeking EU membership for his country. The European power bloc has promised fighter jets and air defense system to Kyiv in its fight against the Russians.
"This is the price of freedom. We are fighting just for our land. And for our freedom, despite the fact that all of the cities of our country are now blocked. Every square today, no matter what it's called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country. No one is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians," Zelenskyy stated strongly. His speech received a long standing ovation by all the members of the EU Parliament. The speech was so moving that even the translator of the Parliament broke down into tears, she tweeted later.
The Neighbours:
The Foreign Ministers of the three Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia issued a joint statement condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
The presidents of Georgia and Moldova likewise condemned the Russian attack, and the president of Moldova committed to accepting refugees from Ukraine. Over 4,000 crossings have occurred already.
The President of Lithuania, declared a state of emergency Thursday over Russia’s attack on Ukraine, calling on the international community to sanction Belarus. Belarus is a long-time ally of Russia and joined it in military exercises near the Ukrainian border before the invasion.
Russian convoys entered Ukraine through its border with Belarus and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and has given the green light to Russia.
There has been no official statement yet from the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, or Turkmenistan).
ASIA - Mixed reactions but powerful Nations hold a neutral stance
Asian countries are kind of divided for various reasons:
- Allegiance to the West or Russia for dependence on Security, economy etc.
- Restless, expecting China to pull a similar feat as Russia
- Ideologies which support or are against Russia's move
- It's a Europe problem and we already have our hands full
They are treading carefully while deciding sides or prefer to look the other way.
CHINA, The silent observer?
China has been mild in its reaction and in none of the statements has clearly condemned Russia. In fact we haven't heard anything from President Xi Jinping directly. China has been clear that it plans to continue its Trade relationship with Russia. The only setback the trade between the 2 nations has been due to the SWIFT ban imposed recently due to which the China Trade Houses are finding it difficult to arrange financing.
The Russian and Chinese trade is up by approximately 36% from the previous year. In 2021, China accounted for approximately 18% of Russia's overall trade.
Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter and China is the largest producer of the crop in the world. Imagine the kind of monopoly these 2 nations might have if they come together. China's customs authorities recently listed all restrictions on Russian wheat and barley, which were restricted over certain disease concerns. Incidentally, the restrictions were lifted the day Russia started the assaults on Ukraine.
China was already the largest buyer of Coal from Russia and signed a major deal days before the assault on Ukraine started.
China has also remained quite calm as far as their stranded citizens in Ukraine are concerned. They asked the Chinese nationals to remain calm and indoors, display a red flag on vehicles and houses while the Russian troops advanced.
INDIA
India, though has been for a peaceful resolution between Russia and Ukraine and PM Mr. Narendra modi urged Mr. Putin do end the invasion, doesn't seem to be sure if it should be breaking its ties and the Military equipment trade over a country in Europe. India is world's largest importer of Russian arms in the world. With the ongoing friction with China doesn't want to alienate itself from Russia, with whom, It has been a time tested relationship. Neither For nor Against, that is the stance India has taken for now. Seems justified as Moscow has repeatedly, in the past, used its veto power at the Security Council to support India over Kashmir issues. In has returned the favour in the past by abstaining from a U.N. resolution in 2014 over Crimea issue.
About 22 Tonnes ventilators, oxygen concentrators and medicines arrived in India in April 2021. The Russian flights included 20 oxygen production units, 75 lung ventilators, 150 medical monitors and 2,00,000 packs of medicine.
Guess India has sufficient reason to stay away from voting.
Pakistan has become the first country to officially sign a huge trade deal with Russia at a time when Moscow has come under severe criticism for invading Ukraine. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan happened to be in Moscow when the invasion was launched. Pakistan has been knocking on doors for Loans and support in favour of POK issue against India.
Myanmar Military Rulers, considering their ideology, have been supporting the Russian invasion.
Vietnam is Russia's biggest customer in South East Asia for weapons and fighter planes. As per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's report, 84 percent of Vietnam’s weapons came from Russia between 2000 to 2019. Vietnam has had Russia's support for arms, weaponry and military equipment to safeguard itself against China. Mixed reactions by Vietnamese citizens but addressing the Russian leader as "Uncle Putin" says a lot about which side is the support.
Indonesia will "not blindly follow the steps taken by another country.” said a spokesperson from Indonesian Foreign Ministry which simply means will not interfere in Russia - Ukraine conflict.
IEA begins meeting on oil supply amid Russia's Ukraine invasion :
The International Energy Agency said on Tuesday that all 31 member countries have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to send a strong message to oil markets that there will be no shortfall in supplies as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The move would come as a major relief for countries heavily dependent on imports to meet their energy needs, including India.India is among the eight association countries of IEA, along with China, Brazil and South Africa.
Meanwhile, World's biggest shipping groups suspend Russian deliveries:
Adding to the country's economic isolation following a series of sanctions by the West, the three biggest container shipping groups in the world announced that they were suspending non-essential deliveries to Russia.Danish shipping giant Maersk, Switzerland-based MSC and France's CMA CGM all announced that they would no longer take bookings for goods from Russia and were suspending most deliveries in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.Smaller competitors such as Singapore-headquartered Ocean Network Express and Germany’s Hapag Lloyd have also announced an end to non-essential deliveries.
U.S. expels 12 Russian diplomats:
The U.S. has expelled 12 Russian diplomats for allegedly "engaging in espionage activities" that threaten national security. Russia's ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called it "another hostile" measure against the Russian Mission to the United Nations. According to a US spokesperson the 12 "operatives" abused their privileges of U.S. residency.
SWIFT ban
And recently, the Biden administration announced additional sanctions against Russia’s central bank, prohibiting Americans from doing any business with the Russian bank while freezing its assets within the United States. Western allies announced fresh sanctions against Moscow on Saturday, including kicking key Russian banks off the main global payments system.
Read the complete article on NewzPepper:
In a research published by Pew Research Centre in August 2017, Russia emerged as Nation and Mr. Putin as a leader who is not favoured by the public worldwide. But at the sae time, the report concludes "Across 37 countries, a median of 31% describe Russia’s power and influence as a major threat to their country – identical to the median percentage who say the same about China, and similar to the median share (35%) that sees America’s power and influence as a large threat."