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Minute’s silence as UN General Assembly meets on Russia-Ukraine

The United Nations opened a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly on Monday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by observing a minute of silence for those killed in the conflict.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine dominated the start of the UN body’s main annual session in the Swiss city of Geneva, and countries rallied around Kyiv’s demand to scrutinise Russia’s actions.

Ukraine’s ambassador in Geneva Yevheniia Filipenko warned that Russia’s invasion “was an attack not only on Ukraine”.

“It was an attack on every UN member state, on the United Nations and on the principles that this organisation was created to defend,” she told the council.

Russia has become an international pariah since its invasion Thursday, and rejected the call for the debate and demanded the issue be put to a vote.

But 29 of the council’s 47 members backed Kyiv’s request, while only five voted no, including Russia and China. The remaining 13 countries abstained.

US ambassador Sheba Crocker hailed the result as proof that “Russia is totally isolated at the council”.

– ‘Tipping point’ –

The debate on the conflict in Ukraine is to take place Thursday, when the council will consider a draft resolution presented by Kyiv.

It calls for a high-level investigation into alleged violations committed in the conflict, dating back to 2014 when the Kremlin annexed Crimea and supported a separatist movement in Ukraine’s east.

In her opening statement Monday, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said “throughout history, there have been moments of profound gravity, that cut the course of events between a ‘before’ and a very different, more harmful, ‘after’.”

“We are at such a tipping point,” she warned.

Her office said more than 100 civilians, including seven children, have been killed in the five days since the invasion began, warning the true toll was likely higher.

The UN refugee agency said more than half a million people have already fled into neighbouring countries.

– Lavrov visit cancelled –

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had been scheduled to address the rights council Tuesday, was forced to cancel his trip.

Russia’s mission in Geneva said Monday this was because of “an unprecedented ban on his flight in the airspace of a number of EU countries”.

The EU banned all Russian carriers from its airspace over the weekend.

Switzerland also decided Monday to join the harsh sanctions and closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, although it made an exception for diplomatic flights.

Lavrov will likely still address the rights council Tuesday via video message, as will his US, British and European Union counterparts.

Ukraine’s top diplomat is scheduled to do the same on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s raging conflict is expected to deepen the increasing polarisation seen at the council in recent years.

The main actors in the conflict are currently members of the already polarised council, including Russia, Ukraine and the United States, which rejoined last month after having been withdrawn by former president Donald Trump in 2018.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his speech to the council Tuesday to “spell out clearly the threat posed by Russia”, his spokesman Ned Price said.

Rights groups in Geneva have called on the UN General Assembly to suspend Russia’s membership in the rights council over the invasion.

– ‘No ordinary moment’ –

The move to hold the emergency session was sparked by Russia on Friday using its veto to block a Security Council resolution that condemned Moscow’s invasion and called for the immediate withdrawal of its troops.

Russia voted against the resolution, but it did not have veto power to derail the referral of the war to the General Assembly, allowed under a 1950 resolution called “Uniting for Peace.”

It allows for members of the Security Council to seize the General Assembly for a special session if the five permanent members — Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China — fail to agree to act together to maintain peace.

Only the support of nine of the council’s 15 members is required to call an emergency special session of the General Assembly.

Eleven countries voted in favor. Russia opposed, while the United Arab Emirates, China and India abstained.

“The council members who supported this resolution recognize that this is no ordinary moment,” said US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Separately Monday, the Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, where up to seven million people are expected to flee the fighting.

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