News Manager
Milforums News Bot
Russia said on Friday a U.N. resolution declaring invalid Crimea's Moscow-backed referendum on seceding from Ukraine was counterproductive and accused Western states of using blackmail and threats to drum up "yes" votes. The non-binding resolution passed with 100 votes in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions in the 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, in a vote that Western nations said highlighted Russia's isolation. "This counterproductive initiative only complicates efforts to resolve the domestic political crisis in Ukraine," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Several Western diplomats, however, have said Russia's U.N. envoy led an aggressive lobbying campaign against the resolution in what they said showed how seriously Moscow took the U.N. vote condemning a referendum that led to its annexation of Crimea.More...