PH votes for UN resolution rejecting Russian referenda in Ukraine

The UN resolution said the move is “illegal” and does not form the basis for any alteration of the status of said Ukrainian regions. (File photo: Patrick Gruban/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

MANILA – The Philippines voted in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s “attempted illegal annexation” of four Ukrainian regions following so-called referendums held in September 2022.

The UN General Assembly adopted the resolution entitled “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Defending the Principles of the Charter of the UN” on Oct. 12, with 143 member states in favor, 35 abstentions, and five voting against, namely Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.

Russia launched the referendums from Sept. 23 to 27 in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions for residents to vote if they wanted to become part of the Russian Federation.

The UN resolution said the move is “illegal” and does not form the basis for any alteration of the status of said Ukrainian regions.

The resolution noted that Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia “as a result of aggression, in violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

Meanwhile, it demanded Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally” withdraw all its military forces from Ukraine’s territory.

Manila had repeatedly called on all concerned to exert efforts to end the war, which started when Russia launched a military assault against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

“The ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis is an example how one conflict can affect the entire world given the interdependent nature of modern national economies,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said in a lecture hosted by Ateneo de Manila University.

“We urge all those concerns to exert every effort and continue utilizing diplomatic and peaceful means to end this conflict and therefore alleviate the suffering not only of the people in Ukraine and in the region but also globally,” he said.

The top diplomat pointed out that the crisis has produced a global domino effect on basic goods and services given Russia is a major exporter of fertilizer and Ukraine a major wheat exporter.