“Malaysia voted in favour and delivered a statement following the adoption of a resolution entitled ‘Aggression against Ukraine’ at the 11th Emergency Special Session #ESS of the General Assembly today,” said Malaysia’s Mission to the UN in a tweet.
The resolution demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders”.
It was passed by 141 countries. Five countries – Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea – voted against it while 35 abstained.
Previously, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said that Malaysia was “very concerned” about the conflict. Some Malaysians had called on Putrajaya to take a stronger stand and that it could not afford to remain neutral.
Even Ukrainian ambassador Olexander Nechytaylo expressed the hope on Feb 25, after Ismail had issued the statement, that Malaysia would take a firmer position. “We took note of the statement of the prime minister yesterday. We believe there is room for a clearer position on international law and on the sanctity of the United Nations charter.”
The UN human rights office yesterday confirmed that 227 civilians had been killed and 525 injured in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of its neighbour last week.
“From the vivid discussions at this emergency special session, what stood out glaringly to us was an overwhelming desire for the current conflict to be peacefully resolved,” said the counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations, Hanizah Izzuddin.
In a statement, Hanizah stressed the inviolability of the fundamental principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty of a country, and peaceful settlement of disputes in the maintenance of international peace and security as well as global prosperity.
“Many will agree that the resolution before us is far from perfect,” she said.
“While my delegation continues to have concerns with some of the language contained in the resolution, Malaysia voted in favour of it as a matter of principle, and out of our strong conviction of the aforementioned principles.”
All 24 Malaysians who had registered with the Malaysian embassy in Ukraine were successfully brought out on Feb 24, Ismail had earlier said. According to a Bernama report on Monday, Ismail said the last group involved nine Malaysians and two dependents, all of whom were transported out of Kyiv on Feb 26 by land to Poland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Donbas, east Ukraine, last week. However, most of the world has called it an invasion.