China voted in the UN for a resolution calling the Russian Federation an aggressor

China voted for the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which contains harsh wording in relation to Russia in connection with its invasion of Ukraine. Previously, representatives of China, as a rule, abstained from voting for drafts of similar resolutions.

Voting took place on April 26, however, the mass media and commentators paid attention to the text of the resolution and the fact that China was among those who voted “for” only today.

A total of 122 countries supported the resolution dedicated to UN cooperation with the Council of Europe. In addition to China, a number of other countries that are considered friendly to Russia, including Kazakhstan and Armenia, as well as India and Brazil, also voted for it.

In particular, the document talks about “unprecedented exports” that Europe faces “after the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and before that against Georgia.” It also contains a call to “compensate for the damage” inflicted on the victims of aggression. Russia is one of the five countries that voted against the document.

The war in Ukraine is not the main subject of the resolution, so it is not clear whether the vote of China and other countries in support of it is a signal of a change in their position regarding Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Earlier, China refrained from criticizing Moscow’s actions, declaring the need to achieve peace taking into account the interests of all parties. Representatives of the People’s Republic of China did not comment on the vote.

During the discussion of the document, the Russian representative called for the clause condemning Russia to be deleted from the document, accusing Western countries of “politicizing” the resolution.

• The President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, paid a visit to Moscow at the end of March. He announced the strategic partnership and friendship between Beijing and Moscow. Western countries expressed fears that China might start supplying Russia with weapons, but there have been no signs of a change in Beijing’s position on the war in Ukraine since then. A few days ago, Xi Jinping had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.