Ortega regime abstains from UN condemnation of Russia

The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo abstained from voting on the resolution, approved Wednesday by the UN General Assembly, which condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A total of 141 of the 193 UN member states supported the resolution that “deplores” the Russian aggression and calls on Vladimir Putin to immediately and unconditionally withdraw his troops from Ukraine.

“It also demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” states the resolution.

They also reaffirmed their “commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, which extend to its territorial waters.”

The condemnation issued by the UN comes after Russia began on February 23, large-scale military operations against Ukraine, with artillery and missile bombardments, in addition to the landing of infantry.

The UN Security Council tried late last week to pass a similar resolution in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, but Russia vetoed the document.

After this stalemate, a special emergency session of the General Assembly was convened, which began on Monday, and concluded with today’s resolution. The widespread support reveals the isolation of the Putin government at the international level.

Nicaragua abstained along with Cuba and China

The states that outright rejected the UN condemnation were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. Another 35 countries, including Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador and China, abstained from supporting or rejecting the resolution.

The abstention of the Ortega-Murillo regime comes a week after Ortega justified the Russian aggression and received Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov in the country, who promised – without giving details – an increase in military and commercial cooperation.

“The step that President Putin took to recognize those provinces, which are provinces that are populated by Russian citizens; I am sure that if they submit it to an election or a referendum there like the one they did in Crimea, I am sure that people there will even vote for annexation to Russia, which is what Crimea did: It returned to the situation in which it was before the fall of the Soviet Union,” justified Ortega.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine has already claimed the lives of several hundred people and left thousands injured from both countries. The Russian Ministry of Defense admitted this Wednesday, March 2, the death of 498 Russian soldiers in the war it launched seven days ago against Ukraine, in addition to 1,597 wounded soldiers.

National Assembly meets with Russian ambassador

Prior to knowing the decision of the Ortega regime on the resolution approved by the UN General Assembly, the Nicaraguan National Assembly, controlled by the Ortega-Murillo regime, reported that they would hold a meeting Wednesday morning with the Russian ambassador Alexander Khokholivov.

At the end of the ordinary session, Gustavo Porras, president of the National Assembly, stated “we have a discussion at 11:00 a.m. with members of the Board of Directors, but fundamentally with the Friendship Group with the Russian Federation, to listen to the dissertation of the Russian ambassador Alexander Khokholivov on the situation”.

Porras did not give details on what situation the Russian representative would discuss. However, in the social networks of the National Assembly it was indicated that Russia’s position on Ukraine was presented at the meeting.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times