Ukraine crisis: Russia isolated in UN Crimea vote Russia has vetoed a draft UN resolution criticising Sundays secession referendum in Ukraines Crimea region - the only Security Council member to vote against the measure. China, regarded as a Russian ally on the issue, abstained from the vote. Western powers criticised Russias veto over the referendum, which will ask Crimeans if they want to rejoin Russia. In Moscow, tens of thousands rallied against Russias actions in Ukraine, the biggest such protest in two years. Russia intervened in the Crimean peninsula after the fall of Ukraines pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February. Mr Yanukovych had sparked months of unrest across Ukraine by pulling out of a deal on closer ties with the European Union, and later opting for closer ties with Russia. The Crimean region was part of Russia until 1954 and most of its residents are ethnic Russians, many of whom would prefer to be governed by Moscow rather than Kiev. Russias Black Sea fleet is also still housed in Crimea. But Russia has signed agreements promising to uphold Ukraines territorial integrity. Crimeas regional parliament instigated the secession referendum after MPs voted overwhelmingly to support rejoining Russia. But the national parliament in Kiev ruled the referendum unconstitutional, and earlier on Saturday voted to disband the regional assembly. At the United Nations, 13 members of the Security Council backed a resolution that called for all nations to respect Ukraines territorial integrity and condemned the referendum as illegal. Western diplomats had expected Russia to veto the document. But they were hoping that China would abstain to isolate Russia. The BBCs Nick Bryant in New York says China and Russia usually work in tandem at the Security Council. But Beijing is sensitive about issues of territorial integrity, because of fears it could send a message to its own restive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:15:08 +0000
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