Scores of UN members to submit resolution on Ukraine cease-fire

An emergency special session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York passes a resolution on Feb. 23, 2023, demanding that Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine

Scores of U.N. members including Japan and France are preparing to submit to the General Assembly a resolution that would urge a cease-fire in Ukraine ahead of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, according to a diplomatic source.

The assembly is likely to adopt the draft resolution, which would also call for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, with the backing of a majority during a plenary session on Feb. 24, the source said. Russia launched the offensives on that date in 2022.

The prepared resolution, seen by Kyodo News, demands “an immediate cessation of the hostilities by (Russia) against Ukraine, in particular of any attacks against civilians and civilian objects.”

It also urges Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”

The upcoming anniversary marks “enormous destruction and human suffering,” and U.N. resolutions adopted in the past in response to Moscow’s military aggression in the neighbouring country must be fully implemented, the draft resolution reads.

The 193-member plenary panel of the world body adopted a similar resolution with support from 141 members on the war’s first anniversary in 2023.

It failed to do so for the two-year mark last year, however, as attention from many U.N. diplomats shifted to the escalation of Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip to counter Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s surprise attack in October 2023.