On March 2, the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine and condemning Belarus' involvement in the war.
The resolution demanded that Russia "immediately cease its military activities in Ukraine and withdraw Russian troops from Ukrainian territory". Of the 193 UN Member States, 141 supported the resolution. Five UN member states - Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria - voted against. 12 UN Member States were absent and 35 UN Member States abstained.
First of all, it should be noted that the UN General Assembly's vote on March 2 marked a significant change in the attitude of many countries towards Russia's aggression against Ukraine in literally a matter of days. When, on February 25, a UN Security Council resolution was voted on which condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine in the strongest terms and which demanded "the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine", the United Arab Emirates abstained, but in the vote on March 2, the UAE delegation to the UN General Assembly already joined in the general condemnation. Although Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced on February 27 that Brazil would remain neutral in the war launched by Russia against Ukraine, already on March 2 the Brazilian delegation to the UN General Assembly joined the joint condemnation.
Two other UN Security Council members, China and India, abstained in both the February 25 UN Security Council vote and the March 2 UN General Assembly vote.
The list of countries whose representatives did not take part in the UN General Assembly vote on March 2 is very interesting: Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
This list includes countries where the attitudes of the majority of the population and the position of their governments do not coincide, but where confrontation with Russia is highly undesirable for their governments, with Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela being particularly prominent.
The second list is of countries that declared neutrality and participated in the UN General Assembly vote on March 2, expressing their position explicitly with abstentions. Abstentions: Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uganda, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
It is this list that marks the new balance of power in the world, separating Western countries from the other potential centers of global growth - China and India.
The abstention of many countries in the UN General Assembly vote on March 2 should therefore not be seen as support for Russian aggression against Ukraine, but as an opportunity to demonstrate their rejection of the long-standing US and EU policy towards the rest of the world.