UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency special session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscow's offensive against Ukraine and withdrawal of all Russian troops, with very strong support from the world organization's 193 member nations that sparked sustained applause.
The vote on the resolution, entitled “Aggression against Ukraine,” was 141-5 with 35 abstentions.
Russia got support for its appeal to vote against the resolution only from Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea, a powerful indication of the international isolation that Russian President Vladimir Putin faces for invading his country's smaller neighbor. Emphasizing that isolation was a major goal of the resolution's supporters.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion. Under special emergency session rules, a resolution needs approval of two-thirds of those countries voting, and abstentions don't count.
After Russia vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council on Feb. 25, Ukraine and its supporters won approval for an emergency special session — the first since 1997 — to try to spotlight opposition to Russia's invasion.
The resolution states that Russia's military operations in Ukraine “are on a scale that the international community has not seen in Europe in decades and that urgent…
