UN General Assembly votes `yes' on Ukraine unity

US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks prior to a UN General Assembly vote on a draft resolution regarding Ukraine, at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 27, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Angola, Argentina, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mongolia, Nepal, Paraguay, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Uzebekistan and Zambia are among the nations that abstained from the voting at the 193-member General Assembly.

The General Assembly resolution, which does not mention Russia by name, is similar in essence to a draft resolution of the UN Security Council, which was vetoed by Russia, a permanent member of the 15-nation UN body. Veto power does not apply in the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly welcomes "the continued efforts by the secretary-general and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international and regional organizations to support de-escalation of the situation with respect to Ukraine," the resolution said.

"In the context of the ongoing diplomatic mediation efforts by the parties concerned, an attempt to push ahead with the UNGA vote on the draft resolution on the question of Ukraine will only further complicate the situation," Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the General Assembly before the vote.

"We believe that the actions taken by the United Nations on the question of Ukraine should reflect the consensus by all parties and should be conducive to the relaxation of tension and to the achievement of a political settlement of the crisis," he said.

"The question of Ukraine involves the interests and concerns of various parties," Liu said. "There should be a balanced approach to address the question. All parties should exercise restraint and refrain from exacerbating the situation and continue the efforts to iron out their differences through political and diplomatic means and to solve the question of Ukraine within the framework of law and order."

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