Russia vetoes UNSC resolution on Crimea

[Raphael]

Russia vetoes US-sponsored UN resolution declaring Crimea vote invalid — RT News

Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council’s resolution declaring the upcoming referendum on the future status of autonomous republic of Crimea invalid and urging all states not to recognize its results.

China abstained as 13 council members supported the resolution and Russia voted against.

The draft resolution noted that the Ukrainian government in Kiev has not authorized the referendum and said that it cannot be valid.

“This referendum can have no validity, and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of Crimea; and calls upon all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status of Crimea on the basis of this referendum and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognizing any such altered status,” the documents reads.

Moscow has a veto right as one of five permanent members of the Security Council.

It was “no secret that Russia would vote against the US draft resolution,” Russia’s envoy at the UN Vitaly Churkin said ahead of the voting. He added that Moscow would respect the choice of Crimeans.

“We cannot accept its basic assumption: to declare illegal the planned March 16 referendum where there residents of the Republic of Crimea should decide on their future,” Churkin said, explaining Moscow’s decision to veto the proposed document.

“The philosophy of the authors of the draft runs counter to one of the basic principles of the international law – the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the Article 1 of the UN Charter,” the Russian diplomat said.

This principle was also confirmed by the 1970 UN Declaration on the Principles of International Law, and a number of other decisions by the UN General Assembly, and the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, Churkin said.

Russia does not dispute the principle of territorial integrity, which is “of, course, very important,” the envoy said.

“In is also understandable that enjoyment of the right of self-determination through a separation from an existing state is an extraordinary measure, applied when future coexistence within a single state becomes impossible,” Churkin said.

In the majority of cases it was implemented without the agreement of the state authorities.

Crimea’s coexisting within Ukraine apparently became impossible as a result of “legal vacuum” that followed the “unconstitutional armed coup” carried out in Kiev by radical nationalists in February and direct threats by these individuals to set their order across Ukraine, Russia’s UN representative said.

On Sunday, the Crimeans are going to decide if they want the republic to remain a part of Ukraine or join the Russian Federation.

European nations and the US said earlier they would not recognize the outcome of the referendum and warned Russia of sanctions over its stance on Ukraine.

 

[Star Wars]

China Abstained instead of Vetoing

 

[Raphael]

China Abstained instead of Vetoing

China can't veto because the referendum sets a bad precedent for the Taiwan issue. But an abstention already expresses China's displeasure at the resolution. And China already called out Western intervention and meddling in Ukraine as the root cause of the conflict.

 

[idune]

China can't veto because the referendum sets a bad precedent for the Taiwan issue. But an abstention already expresses China's displeasure at the resolution. And China already called out Western intervention and meddling in Ukraine as the root cause of the conflict.

China set a strategic precedence in a very bad way and in future conflict with US, which is guaranteed to happen, Russia will do the same. Bottom line in future China will suffer from lack of strategic support when it needs it most.

 

[itaskol]

China set a strategic precedence in a very bad way and in future conflict with US, which is guaranteed to happen, Russia will do the same. Bottom line in future China will suffer from lack of strategic support when it needs it most.

we will be very happy, if Russia do the same in the future.

 

[idune]

we will be very happy, if Russia do the same in the future.

It will be be more like wheeling and dealing with country that China has active conflict. For example case of Japan and Vietnam.

 

[Fukuoka]

China Abstained instead of Vetoing

Maybe because of the last terrorist attacks
Now Russia appears to be alone

 

[DV RULES]

Blocked UN SC resolution on Crimea at odds with right to self-determination

Russia could not support the U.S. draft resolution on Crimea (autonomy within Ukraine) because it is at odds with the right of people to self-determination enshrined in Article 1 of the U.N. Charter, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said on Saturday, March 15.
“We cannot agree with its underlying message that the referendum slated for March 16, during which the residents of the Republic of Crimea should determine their own future, will have no legal force. This reasoning by the authors of the text runs counter to one of the basic principles of international law - the principle of equality and self-determination of people set out in Article 1 of the U.N. Charter,” Churkin said after the vote in the Security Council.

He noted that this principle was “reaffirmed in the U.N. Declaration on Principles of International Law of 1970 and several other decisions of the U.N. General Assembly, and in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975.”

Russia vetoed the draft resolution. The draft proposed by the United States was supported by 13 member states attending the U.N. Security Council’s meeting on Saturday, March 15, with one abstention - China.

The latest version of the resolution proposed by the United States says that Ukraine has not authorised a referendum on the status of Crimea and therefore it cannot be considered lawful or serve as the basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. The document also urges all countries, international organisations and specialised agencies not to recognise the results of the plebiscite in Crimea.

Churkin said prior to the vote that Russia would block the resolution and stressed that Moscow was not questioning the principle of territorial integrity of states. However he recalled that “before 1954 Crimea was a part of Russia” and had been handed over to Ukraine “in violation of law and without taking into account the opinion of the people of Crimea.”

The referendum will be held on March 16. The decision was adopted by 49 of 50 MPs present at an urgent session of the Crimean parliament on February 27.

Two questions will be asked during the referendum:

1. Do you support Crimea’s reunification with Russia as its constituent member?

2. Do you support the restoration of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea of 1992 and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?

The ballots in Sevastopol will also include a question on its accession to Crimea as a city with a special status, he added.

Sevastopol’s City Council ruled on March 6, to hold a referendum on the city’s accession to Russia.

ITAR-TASS: World - Blocked UN SC resolution on Crimea at odds with right to self-determination

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

China set a strategic precedence in a very bad way and in future conflict with US, which is guaranteed to happen, Russia will do the same. Bottom line in future China will suffer from lack of strategic support when it needs it most.

Because we also face the Taiwan problem, thus we cannot directly approve Russia's stance on Crimea.

 

[Fukuoka]

Because we also face the Taiwan problem, thus we cannot directly approve Russia's stance on Crimea.

Wait... If you want to take Taiwan, you should side with Russia

I think too that it's truth that China doesn't really have friends

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

China set a strategic precedence in a very bad way and in future conflict with US, which is guaranteed to happen, Russia will do the same. Bottom line in future China will suffer from lack of strategic support when it needs it most.

Because we also face the Taiwan problem, thus we cannot directly approve Russia's stance on Crimea.

Wait... If you want to take Taiwan, you should side with Russia

I think too that it's truth that China doesn't really have friends

We maintain our initial stance, we don't openly support the separatism against any country, but if Russia wanna grab Crimea, then we are not going to against it nor suppor it, we maintain our neutral stance.

Just because the US is a double standard hypocrite and the biggest rule breaker, it doesn't mean that we have to follow their suit.

 

[Raphael]

Wait... If you want to take Taiwan, you should side with Russia

What? Taiwan is de jure part of China, just like Crimea is de jure part of Ukraine because Khrushchev transferred it. Recognizing the referendum would give Taiwan a window of opportunity to declare independence.

I sympathize a lot with Russia because on cultural grounds, our position is the same: Crimea and Taiwan are both ethnic and cultural appendages of the motherland. But legally, we are in different positions and China's vote had to reflect that.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

What? Taiwan is de jure part of China, just like Crimea is de jure part of Ukraine because Khrushchev transferred it. Recognizing the referendum would give Taiwan a window of opportunity to declare independence.

Yep, China is in fact the biggest supporter of the status quo of the WWII since 1945.

If Russia claims that the entire Ukraine is part of its territorial integrity just like we claim Taiwan, then we are going to openly support it.

But right now, Ukraine has already been declared as a separated entity which is already acknowledged by Russia itself.

Since China cannot break the rule like US did, we can't openly support separatism against the territorial sovereignty of any nation.

But as i said, if Russia declares that Ukraine/Crimea as part of its territorial integrity, we are going to openly support it.

 

[tranquilium]

China Abstained instead of Vetoing

Abstained is the correct response. What is there to gain if we voted no? We already showed support to Russia by not siding with US and since Russia is already vetoing, there really is no need for China to go any farther.

 

[Raphael]

France is angry.