Despite the fact that the UN press release heralded that the UN General Assembly had, on their March 2 vote, “overwhelmingly” demanded that Russia “withdraw all troops” from Ukraine, a closer look reveals that that assertion contains a lot of bravado.
Although 141 countries did vote for the resolution, and “only 5” voted against, there are 193 countries in the world, meaning that their tally left out 47 countries, or virtually 25% of the world was missing from their calculations. Thanks to Nigeria’s Punch—which included a picture of the entire “big board” of vote tallies in its coverage—we know where the other quarter of the world stands, also revealing some major holes in the coalition of the “overwhelmed.” Of those 47 countries, 35 abstained, and another 12 were counted as “absent” (which on a vote like this is likely not an “accidental oversight"). (https://punchng.com/full-list-ukraine-how-nigeria-other-countries-voted-for-against-russia/)
A closer examination of the complete list further indicates that, in addition to India and China (both of which abstained), 27 African countries—50% of the continent’s 55 nations—refused to condemn Russia. Commenting, Toronto’s Globe and Mail predictably observed that, only “Moscow’s continuing influence” on the continent could have led them to overlook the glaring human rights violations involved. From Uganda, Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the son (and presumed heir) of President Yoweri Museveni tweeted, “the majority of mankind (that are non-white) support Russia’s stand in Ukraine. Putin is absolutely right!” and further stating, “When the U.S.S.R. parked nuclear armed missiles in Cuba in 1962, the West was ready to blow up the world over it. Now when NATO does the same they expect Russia to do differently.”
In addition to Africa, six (of seven) Central Asian countries (former Soviet states, barring Afghanistan), also Iran and Iraq were among the coalition of the unwilling. In addition, Vietnam, a country which the U.S. has been heavily courting as an anchor against China, abstained from condemning Russia. Of the BRICS countries, only Brazil voted in favor of the resolution.
Commenting on this from the U.S. on March 4, Cato Institute’s Ted Galen Carpenter observed that, “When more than 20% of the General Assembly’s membership refuses to embrace a purely feel-good measure Washington is pushing, the U.S.-sponsored global coalition looks fragile indeed.... the U.S.-led coalition against Russia may be only a half-mile wide and less than an inch deep.”
