According to interviews with U.N. diplomats, most of whom preferred to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of angering Moscow, the targets of Russian threats included Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as a number of African countries. A spokesman for Russias Mission to the U.N. denied that Moscow threatened any country with retaliation if it supported the resolution, saying: We never threaten anyone. We just explain the situation. According to the diplomats, the Russian threats were not specific. But they said it was clear to the recipients of the warnings not to support the resolution that retaliatory measures could include steps such as expelling migrant workers from Russia, halting natural gas supplies or banning certain imports to Russia to cause economic harm. In the end, the Ukrainian resolution declaring Crimeas vote on March 16 in favor of seceding from Ukraine as having no validity passed with 100 votes in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions. Another 24 U.N. member states did not cast votes. Western diplomats called the result a diplomatic success for Ukraine. A similar General Assembly vote was held in 2008 after Russia went to war with Georgia over its breakaway enclave South Ossetia, which later declared independence and has unsuccessfully sought annexation to Russia. That resolution was adopted with a mere 14 votes in favor, 11 against and 105 abstentions. the-news-page/News_Details.aspx?id=17665
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 07:22:24 +0000
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