In an emergency session, the UN voted on a resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion, China says no to sanctioning Russia, Biden announces additional steps to pressure Putin and Russia, and more Ukraine updates.
UN votes on a resolution to condemn Russia for Ukraine invasion
The United Nations held an emergency session of the General Assembly in which the overwhelming majority of the 193 member states voted for a resolution condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
One hundred forty-one member states voted in favor of the resolution, with 35 abstaining and five voting against it. The Guardian reported and posted a copy of the legally non-binding resolution.
The vote marks the first time in 40 years the Security Council has referred a crisis to the General Assembly, and only the 11th time an emergency session of the UN general assembly has been called since 1950.
Biden announces 2 new steps to ramp up pressure on Putin
During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden outlined two new steps to pressure Putin and Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Following similar moves by the UK, European Union in Canada, Biden announced the US would ban all Russian flights from entering American airspace, Axios reported.
Second, the US Justice Department will form a task force to work alongside Europeans to crack down on the criminal activity of Russian oligarchs, pledging to seize their yachts, luxury apartments, private jets, and other “ill-begotten gains.”
China says no to sanctioning Russia
On Wednesday, China announced it would not join with Japan, the US, and the dozens of Western and European to Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, saying it will continue with “normal trade cooperation,” Fox reported.
“China firmly opposes all illegal unilateral sanctions and believes that sanctions are never fundamentally effective means to solve problems,” according to a statement by spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry Wang Webin on Wednesday. “They will only create serious difficulties to the economy and livelihood of relevant countries and further intensify division and confrontation.”
Hacker group Anonymous calls for Russians to remove Putin “by any means necessary”
Notorious hacker group Anonymous, which has already committed cyberattacks on Russian and Belarus websites, issued another threat on Wednesday, this time directly at Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for Russians to “remove” him from leadership “by any means necessary.”
“When a leader of a country is promoting a nuclear response, it is up to the people of that country to remove that leader by any means necessary,” Anonymous wrote on Twitter. “When a leader holds life on earth hostage with nuclear threats, they forfeit their leadership.”
