‘The methods of achieving the result are again ‘cowboy.’ According to our calculations, almost 30 pairs of arms were twisted’
On Sunday, Russia’s top representative to the UN accused the West of using “cowboy” maneuvers and “arm-twisting” some nations during last week’s UNGA vote that demanded Moscow withdraw its soldiers from Ukraine.
On the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion, the 193-member UN General Assembly nearly-unanimously voted to condemn Russia, calling for a “comprehensive, just, and enduring peace” following the principles of the U.N. Charter. With a round of applause, the resolution was adopted on Thursday with 141 votes in favor and 32 abstentions.
Six countries joined Russia in voting no: Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the resolution was “a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine.”
“The methods of achieving the result are again ‘cowboy,'” Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, said on the Telegram messaging platform, according to Reuters. He added that other “developing” country officials had complained to the Russian mission about pressure coming from Western counterparts who he labeled Kyiv’s sympathizers.
He added: “According to our calculations, almost 30 pairs of arms were twisted.” However, no evidence was presented to support Polyansky’s claims, and developing nations have not publicly stated they were put under pressure to support the UN resolution.
