UN Rejects Russia's Call For Secret Vote On Ukraine

The U.N. General Assembly voted on Monday to reject Russia's call for the 193-member body to hold a secret ballot later this week on whether to condemn Moscow's move to annex four partially occupied...

The United Nations General Assembly voted on Monday to reject Russia's call for the 193-member body to hold a secret vote later this week on whether to condemn Moscow's move to annex four partially occupied regions of Ukraine.

The General Assembly decided, with 107 votes in agreement, that it would hold a general vote - not a secret ballot -

On a draft resolution condemning the "allegedly illegal referendums" in Russia and the "illegal annexation attempt". Diplomats said a vote on the resolution would likely take place on Wednesday.

On Monday, only 13 countries opposed a general vote on the draft resolution, 39 other countries abstained and the remaining countries did not vote.

Russia argued that the secret ballot was necessary because Western pressure meant it "could be very difficult if positions were expressed publicly".

Moscow moved to annex four partially occupied regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia - after holding what it called referendums.

Ukraine and its allies denounced the vote as illegal and coercive.

The draft resolution to be voted on later this week calls on countries not to recognize the Russian move and reaffirms Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken pressed the international community earlier on Monday to make clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions were "totally unacceptable".

“Now is the time to express their support for Ukraine; it is not time for abstentions, appeasement words, or equivocation under pretensions of neutrality.

"The fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter are at stake," Blinken said in a statement.

Russia vetoed a similar resolution in the 15-member Security Council last month.

She has been trying to shake off her international isolation after nearly three

Quarters of the General Assembly rebuked Moscow and demanded that it withdraw its forces within a week of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The moves at the United Nations mirror what happened in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea.

In the Security Council, Russia vetoed a draft resolution opposing the referendum on the status of Crimea and urging countries not to recognize it.

Then the General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the referendum invalid by a vote of 100 to 11 against it, with 58 official abstentions, while 24 countries did not participate.

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