The UN General Assembly approved a Ukraine-sponsored resolution, which calls the referendum held in Crimea illegal.
The vote was 100 countries in favor, 11 against with 58 abstentions. Armenia was one of the eleven countries who voted against the document along with Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
On his Facebook page, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Tigran Balayan, quoted an explanatory note by Armenia’s Representative to the UN, Karen Nazaryan, in which he states, “Armenia has consistently and over years taken a principled position on the promotion of democracy, freedoms and rights, including and in particular the equal rights and self-determination of peoples as universal values and principles, embraced by this Assembly, based on the UN Charter.”
On March 16, Crimea, which is considered part of Ukraine, held a referendum where 96% of voters favored unification with the Russian Federation.
Unlike the UN Security Council, resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly are not legally binding, but also, cannot be vetoed.
The 15-member Security Council has so far held eight meetings on the Ukraine trying to maintain pressure on Moscow. However Russia has been vetoing any action by the Security Council as one of its five permanent members.
