The United Nations Security Council on Sunday approved a rare emergency session of the broader General Assembly to consider a resolution there to push back on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the emergency session this week will be the first time in decades. She also warned Russian officers and soldiers not to harm civilians in Ukraine, saying, “Photographic and video evidence is mounting, and you will be held to account for your actions: We will not let atrocities slide.”
On Friday, a resolution requiring Russia to withdraw failed in the Security Council after Russia used its veto. On Sunday, the council decided to convene the General Assembly starting Monday so that a resolution can be considered by the U.N.’s more than 200 members. Russia voted “no” on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the special session because the vote was on a procedural matter.
Russia won’t have a veto in the General Assembly, which passes resolutions with a majority or two-thirds vote, but resolutions in the broader body aren’t binding.
Moscow’s ambassador to the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya, who is presiding this month at the Security Council, criticized what he said was an effort to circumvent Russia and said it “undermines the very bedrock of the U.N. Charter.”
French and Mexican diplomats on Monday will submit another Security Council resolution seeking humanitarian support for Ukraine, according to the French ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière.