Kenya is among African nations that abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia and its leader, President Vladimir Putin for illegally annexing sections of Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly yesterday adopted a resolution that strongly condemned Russia’s illegal referendums in regions within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and demanded President Putin reverses his annexation declaration.
143 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 5 voted against it and 35 abstained. Kenya is among the 35 African states that abstained from voting. North Korea, Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria voted against the resolution.
Last month, President Putin ordered a plebiscite in the annexed Ukrainian territory regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, on Thursday told African journalists he was pleased with the “right direction” taken by some countries from abstaining or voting in favour of a UN resolution to condemn Russia’s referendum to annex Ukrainian territories.
He said, however, there was a need for African nations to show more support against the war.
“The world is united in support for Ukraine, including many African countries,” Mr. Kuleba said in a digital press briefing from Ukraine. “An overwhelming 143 UN member states voted for the resolution to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”
