More than 20 civilians killed in bombing in Zaporizhia, Ukraine and Russia blame each other

The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on a resolution condemning the annexation “referendums” organized by Moscow in Ukraine’s administrative regions.

The French presidency of the council said the meeting will take place on Friday at 3 pm in New York (9 pm in Paris) before another scheduled discussion regarding the leaks discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

A draft of the text was seen by Agence France-Presse “Condemns the Russian Federation’s organization of so-called illegal referendums” In Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia, and you find that they cannot get it “Not true” Neither “to serve as a basis for changing the status of these areas”And the “including any alleged annexation” from Russia.

The draft resolution prepared by the United States and Albania calls on all states and other organizations “Not recognizing the alleged annexation” Of the four regions of Russia. Moscow also demands it “stop immediately” his conquest of Ukraine and “The immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all its military forces” from the state.

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Thursday categorically denounced the approaching Russian annexation, believing that it did not happen. Nowhere in the modern world.

If the Russian veto is not in doubt during Friday’s vote, it is above all the position of China, which Westerners sometimes accuse of conciliation with Russia, which will be examined with interest. Officially neutral, Beijing this week reiterated its call for its territorial integrity to be respected from all countries. India’s position will also be closely watched.

The two countries abstained from the vote in February, in the wake of the Russian invasion, when Russia vetoed a resolution in the Council condemning the Russian invasion. “Attacks” from Ukraine.

This subsequent vote in the General Assembly, where none of the 193 member states has a veto, will make it possible to assess the degree of Russia’s isolation at a time when some developing nations are alarmed that the West is focusing all its surveillance on Ukraine.