The UN General Assembly met in a special session in New York at 3pm local time (9pm Italian time) yesterday, 11 October,

to discuss Russia's recent attempt to annex four regions of Ukraine.

The vote on the draft resolution sponsored by the US and the EU is a test of Moscow's international isolation, diplomatic sources reveal.     

For the green light of the resolution

, a majority of two thirds of the countries present are needed

(abstentions do not count) and to understand whether Russia's international isolation is growing: eyes are on India and China, and on the African group. 

The plenary follows Moscow's veto on a Security Council resolution condemning the annexation and coincides with the day when Moscow dropped a shower of missiles on various Ukrainian cities to respond to the attack on the bridge connecting with the Crimea.

With the resolution, which however should not be voted on until Wednesday, the Western world aims to show that President Vladimir Putin's Russia is isolated on the international stage.

The meeting of the General Assembly began with a procedural vote on a measure that Russia requested, proposing to the Assembly to vote by secret ballot and not by open vote.

The request was rejected

with 107 votes against, 13 in favor and 39 abstentions.

We then proceed with the debate

. 

The Russian ambassador

,

Vassily Nebenzia

, in a letter to member states called the move to the Assembly "clearly politicized and provocative".

"NATO has long been devising plans to defeat or weaken Russia and has chosen Ukraine for this purpose," he said.

The final draft of the document condemns the "illegal" annexations of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia after the "so-called referendums" and stresses that such actions "

have no validity under international law

".

It reads:

"The Charter of the United Nations is clear: any annexation of the territory of one state by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the principles of the Charter and of international law"

.

It then reaffirms the states' commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, as well as clearly condemning the "so-called illegal referendums" and the "attempted illegal annexation" of Russia. , not valid under international law.

The UN General Assembly welcomed the end of the speech of the Ukrainian ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya with applause 

which warned the United Nations to restore their credibility after Russia's illegal annexations of Ukrainian territory created an "existential threat" to the UN Charter.

If the authority of this institution is eroded, he said in speaking to the General Assembly "we will not blame anyone but ourselves".

Today Moscow "launched at least 84 missiles against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. Energy facilities, residential buildings, universities, schools and museums have been among the Russian targets. Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime and Russia has tried once again that it is a terrorist state ".

He said the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, accusing

Moscow to try to "take us back to the 1930s, when Hitler destroyed countries with illegal invasions and referendums"

.

EU: today's attacks Russia are war crimes

"We condemn Russia's attacks today against Kiev and other cities across Ukraine. Such indiscriminate attacks on civilians are war crimes and we are committed to holding the perpetrators accountable."

This was stated by the

deputy ambassador of the EU to the UN

,

Silvio Gonzato

, speaking at the General Assembly. 

Turkey: "cancel annexations, return to diplomacy" 

Even Turkey, which intervened in July to help the UN negotiate the agreement on Ukrainian and Russian grain exports, "unequivocally rejects the referendums and the attempted annexation of Russia of some Ukrainian regions, which is illegal, contrary to international law. and it cannot be accepted ". This was stated

by the Turkish ambassador to the UN, Feridun Sinirlioglu,

in the General Assembly, asking to" cancel the decision and return to diplomacy "." While the whole world is calling for an end to the war in Ukraine today we woke up to new attacks "by Russia, he added, which are unacceptable and extremely worrying. 

Gb: "Borders cannot be redrawn by force"

"The Charter of the United Nations enshrines the principle of territorial integrity. We have no way of resolving disputes or achieving the fundamental objectives of the UN if we give in to this principle, if a rogue head of state can forcibly change the borders of a another member of the United Nations ".

You reiterated the British ambassador to the UN,

Barbara Woodward

, underlining that "the war in Russia is overturning the most sacred principle of the international system:

borders cannot be redrawn by force"

.