Early Thursday the UN voted on a non-binding resolution which called the Crimean referendum invalid and supported the border integrity of Ukraine. 100 countries supported it; 58 abstained; 11 voted against it. Here are those 11 countries:
- Armenia
- Belarus
- Bolivia
- Cuba
- North Korea
- Nicaragua
- Russia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Venezuela
- Zimbabwe
So, five points:
- I don't think it's by coincidence that Russia's closest allies lead on Freedom House's list of least-free countries. The colors indicate the least free countries, countries that are classified as not free, and countries listed as partially free.
- China abstained, again. They are displeased with Russia, but not so much as to express this directly with a vote against Russia.
- Ukraine has moved its military force into place to create a physical roadblock if Russia chooses to expand its incursion and annexation of Ukrainian territory. It's not that they'll stop Russia, but that it forces Russia to face the human, monetary and political costs. The political costs: a schism with China where China will no longer abstain from UN votes condemning Russia's actions.
- This shows how the west should have seized on Russia's relationship with Syria and gone after a UN resolution to divide Syria into two during the Ukrainian crisis -- what I refer to as a parallel asymmetric intervention -- to provide relief to the 2M+ Syrian refugees.
- Russia's UN envoy had the most hilarious quote: "The result is rather satisfying for us as we have won a moral and a political victory." Not a single free country voted in support of Russia's actions.
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