INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that "demands" Russia "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine, in a
powerful rebuke of Moscow's invasion by a vast majority of the world's nations.After more than two days of extraordinary debate which saw
35 countries which abstained, while just five Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia -- voted against it.The resolution
"deplores" the invasion of Ukraine "in the strongest terms" and condemns President Vladimir Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on
alert.The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise in countries from Myanmar
to Venezuela, and came as Putin's forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee."They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very
right to exist," Ukraine's ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote."It's already clear that the goal of Russia is
UN Charter.But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN
instead "deplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine."'Who will be next?'It also makes clear the
United Nations is "condemning" Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on alert, a move that ignited an immediate outcry from the
West.Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war and the risks of military escalation."If the United Nations has
any purpose, it is to prevent war," the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.She accused Russia of
"preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.""We've seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into
Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield that includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva
Convention," Thomas-Greenfield said.Russia's ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.Ambassador Valentin Rybakov
blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as "the worst example of economic and financial terrorism."And he followed other Russian
allies such as Syria in condemning the "double standards" of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq and
Afghanistan in recent decades.Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia
Colombia railed against any return to "empire," while Albania wondered: "Who will be next?"From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the
victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit, with the rest of the Middle East remaining in the
During the debate Beijing had stressed the world had "nothing to gain" from a new Cold War.On the meeting's sidelines, Washington has taken
aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions.U.S
President Joe Biden asserted Tuesday in his State of the Union address that Putin had underestimated the response to the invasion."He
rejected efforts at diplomacy..
And, he thought he could divide us here at home," Biden said."Putin was wrong
