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Russia on Friday used its veto to nix a draft UN Security Council resolution condemning its major military offensive into neighbouring Ukraine in a vote that western officials say underscored Moscow's isolation on the world stage.
In all, 11 council members voted for the document, which was drafted by the US and Albania. China, which frequently aligns with Russia in the UN's top chamber, abstained. The UAE and India also abstained.
The resolution's backers are now expected to send it to the UN’s 193-nation General Assembly, where resolutions do not carry the force of international law, but where UN members do not have vetoes.
The council voted against the backdrop of chaotic scenes in Ukraine, where missiles pound the capital Kiev as Russian forces press their advance for a second day and as air raid sirens wail over the city of three million people.
The draft document would have condemned “in the strongest terms the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine in violation” of the UN Charter, which forbids members from needlessly attacking other countries.
It would have required Moscow to “immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine” and “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders”.
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A Ukrainian soldier walks past the shell of a burnt military vehicle, on a street in Kiev. AP -
A screengrab from CCTV footage shows a missile hitting a residential building in Kiev. Reuters -
A man inspects a broken window, after shelling carried out by Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military centre as two cars burn on a street in Kiev. AP -
Medical specialists transport a woman, who was wounded in the shelling of an apartment building, to an ambulance, as her husband looks on. Reuters -
A woman outside her apartment building after it was damaged by a rocket, in Kiev. AP -
A Ukrainian police officer detains a driver on a street in Kiev. AP -
A soldier's helmet with a bullet hole on a street in the Ukrainian capital. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers walk by a damaged vehicle, at the site of fighting with Russian troops, in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian policemen move parrots to safety after a high-rise apartment block was damaged by shelling in Kiev. EPA -
A screengrab from a video shows rescue workers carrying a person at the site of a damaged multi-storey residential building, south-west of the Ukrainian capital. Reuters -
A building damaged by shelling carried out by Russian troops in Kiev. EPA -
Helga Tarasova comforts her daughter Kira Shapovalova as they wait in an underground shelter during a bombing alert in Kiev. AFP -
A man walks past a building damaged by a rocket attack in the Ukrainian capital. AP -
Emergency services workers near an apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers collect unexploded shells in the capital. AFP -
An apartment building damaged by shelling in Kiev. Reuters -
Debris of a burnt military truck on a street in Kiev. AP -
Natali Sevriukova stands next to her home after a rocket attack in Kiev, Ukraine. AP -
People on foot and in cars move to cross from Ukraine to Poland at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Servicemen from the Ukrainian National Guard in central Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers in downtown Kiev after Russian troops reached the outskirts of the capital. AP Photo -
Police officers detain demonstrators in St. Petersburg, Russia. Hundreds of people gathered in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Thursday, protesting against Russia's attack on Ukraine. Similar protests took place in other Russian cities, and activists were also arrested. AP Photo -
Hungarian troops in Vasarosnameny, close to the border with Ukraine, prepare to help refugees. AP Photo -
Wrecked Russian army rocket launchers in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
The aftermath of a rocket attack in Kiev. AP Photo -
A US Air Force jet refuels over Poland. Reuters -
Devastation after shelling in Ukraine's Luhansk enclave. Reuters -
The Royal Welsh Battlegroup from the UK makes its way to Estonia. Reuters -
Firefighters tackle a blaze in a building in Kiev. AFP -
The wreckage of an unidentified aircraft in a residential area in Kiev. Reuters -
Smoke rises near the Ukrainian Defence Ministry in Kiev. Reuters -
Russian military helicopters fly over the Ukrainian capital. AP -
An anxious wait to board a train to leave Kiev as the attack loomed. AP Photo -
Ukrainian servicemen on tanks in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo -
Ukraine troops said this destroyed armoured vehicle outside Kharkiv belonged to the Russian army. Reuters -
Rescuers at the crash site after a Ukraine armed forces Antonov aircraft was shot down in Kiev, according to the Ukrainian authorities. Reuters -
Ukrainian tanks that aim to repel an attack by the Russian military in the Luhansk enclave of Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian State Border Guard Service base is ablaze after heavy shelling near Kiev. Reuters -
Damaged radar at a Ukrainian military plant outside Mariupol. Officials in Kiev say Russian troops have rolled into the country from the north, east and south. AP Photo -
Firefighters attend a blaze after bombing in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chuguiv, as Russian armed forces appeared to be bombarding Ukraine from several directions. AFP -
A traffic jam in Kiev, with many Ukrainians leaving their capital after Russian troops entered. EPA -
The Border Service of Ukraine released CCTV footage purporting to show Russian military vehicles passing a checkpoint to drive into Crimea. AP -
A man picks up fragments of military materiel on the street after an apparent Russian strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP -
Workers load the debris of a rocket on to a lorry in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kiev. AP -
Emergency staff treat an injured man after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP -
An American woman in distress after crossing the border to flee the violence in Ukraine, in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -
People take shelter in a Kiev subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
People in a rush near Kiev-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in the Ukrainian capital. AFP -
A Flightradar24.com screengrab shows a dearth of civilian aircraft in Ukrainian airspace after the Russian invasion. AP -
The aftermath of bombing in Chuguiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian rocket launcher vehicle prepares for action. Reuters -
Cars are driven across a field to leave the city of Kharkiv. Reuters -
People chant, carry placards and wave Ukrainian flags as they gather in Sydney, to demonstrate against Russian attacks on its neighbour. AP -
People with many of their belongings packed take shelter in a Metro station in Kiev. AFP -
Emergency services at the scene of an explosion at a military unit building in Kiev. EPA -
A Kiev resident sweeps up debris after Russian shelling. AP -
The first 40 soldiers of the 173rd US Army Airborne Brigade step off a military plane in Latvia. EPA -
More damage from shelling in Kiev. AP -
People wait at a bus station to travel to western parts of Ukraine, after violence in the east. Reuters -
A woman carries her cats in a quest for a safe haven. AFP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds an urgent government meeting in Kiev to discuss the next step. AFP -
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell give a joint statement in Brussels, updating the press about the situation in Ukraine. EPA -
People survey the damage after bombing in Chuguiv. AFP -
A building on fire in Chuguiv. AFP
Russia’s decision to use its veto was all but guaranteed. Still, Washington and its allies pressed ahead to demonstrate Moscow’s “isolation”, an official from President Joe Biden’s administration told reporters.
"Russia is isolated," Britain's UN ambassador Barbara Woodward said after the vote, noting that Moscow had "no support" for the war in Ukraine.
Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused western nations of ignoring Ukrainian abuses in the east of the country.
“You have made Ukraine a pawn in your geopolitical game, with no concern whatsoever about the interests of the Ukrainian people,” Mr Nebenzya said.
Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya led the council chamber in a moment of silence, asking members to "pray for peace."
He also told Mr Nebenzia to "pray for salvation" in a speech that was widely applauded by members.
France's UN ambassador Nicolas de Riviere said Russia was "trampling on the UN Charter" and had to "stop its war" or pay a "heavy price". Council members had a "responsibility" to condemn the war, he told reporters.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, slammed Russia's "unprovoked, unjustified, unconscionable war on Ukraine" that had forced some 50,000 Ukrainians to flee the country.
She praised Russians who had taken to the streets to protest against President Vladimir Putin's decision to "plunge them into a war against their neighbour".
The UAE's ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, called for "de-escalation and the cessation of hostilities" in Ukraine and the "resumption of dialogue" to end the conflict.
Russia holds the Security Council’s rotating presidency for the month of February and schedules meetings and votes, though this responsibility switches to temporary council member the UAE on March 1.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths on Friday said more than $1 billion was needed for aid operations in Ukraine over the next three months, as hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes.
“We're going to need to use cash for the delivery of assistance, and we're going to need to use that cash safely,” the UN's head of humanitarian affairs told reporters in New York.
“We're looking obviously at the impact of sanctions on our operations.”
Two UN officials who focus on violence against children, Virginia Gamba and Dr Najat Maalla M’jid, warned of threats to the safety of Ukraine's 7.5 million children and the prospect of young people being forced to fight.
“Negotiated peace must continue to be the objective over any military solution to the crisis for children to be spared from the horrors of armed conflict,” they said in a statement.
“It is not too late to save this generation of children from the scourge of war.”
