Europe

Russia vetoes UN resolution on Crimea

by Mario Trujillo - 03/15/14 12:02 PM ET

Russia on Saturday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution against Sunday’s referendum in Crimea on whether to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.

The drafted resolution was defeated 13-1. China, a close ally of Russia, abstained from the vote.

{mosads}A single member of the Security Council can block a resolution. After the vote, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said Russia couldn’t veto the truth, however.

“History has lessons for those of us who are willing to listen, unfortunately not everyone was willing to listen today,” she said.

Power said the fact that Russia was the single vote against the resolution is evidence the country is becoming more “isolated, alone and wrong.”

Though the resolution failed, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said the vote was “a resounding condemnation of Russian aggression” and President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin should think long and hard: there are no defenders of Moscow’s aggression,” Royce said. “This is going to be a bogus referendum, and the world knows it.”

The vote Saturday is the seventh time the Security Council has met amid turmoil in Ukraine as Russian forces moved into the Crimean peninsula late last month asserting the protection of ethnic Russians in the region.

Crimea holds an ethnic Russian majority and has looked to gain independence from Ukraine since ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country amid protests.

The resolution proposed by the United States declared the Ukrainian government had not authorized the referendum in Crimea to gain independence from Ukraine and join Russia and therefore could not be recognized.

“This referendum can have no validity, and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of Crimea,” the resolution reads.

The resolution said no land gained through threat of force will be recognized and reaffirms the U.N.’s “commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

“These are principles Russia agrees with and defends vigorously all around the world except, it seems, in circumstances that involve Russia,” Power said.

Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia on Friday it risks “enormous consequences” if Russia annexes Crimea after the vote.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that Russia respects the effort. However, he said Putin would wait for Sunday’s results before making a decision on moving forward.

—Updated 2:40 p.m.

Tags Crimea John Kerry Russia Samantha Power Ukraine