China and India, so far opposed to condemning Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, have voted on a UN General Assembly resolution on relations between the United Nations and the Council of Europe in which explicit reference is made to the "aggression of the Russian Federation of Ukraine".
The green light to the text of the resolution (approved last week with 122 votes in favor, 5 against and 18 abstentions) represents a first diplomatic change of course in the position of Delhi and Beijing towards Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. A step appreciated by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell on Twitter.
"The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on cooperation with the Council of Europe by 122 votes, including key G20 partners such as China, Brazil, India and Indonesia. We welcome the resolution, which clearly qualifies the war against Ukraine as 'aggression by the Russian Federation,'" Borrell wrote on Twitter.
The resolution did not concern in particular the war in Ukraine, but the preamble states that: 'Considering equally that the unprecedented difficulties that Europe is currently facing as a result of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and against Georgia previously, and the termination of the accession of the Russian Federation from the Council of Europe, require enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe'.
They voted against Russia, Belarus, Syria, Nicaragua and North Korea.