Armenia Backs Russia over UN Resolution on Ukraine

NEW YORK — Armenia voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution on Thursday that reaffirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and recognized as illegal the referendum in Crimea that led to the peninsula’s annexation by Russia.

The document was approved by a vote of 100 to 11, with 58 nations abstaining. Among the countries that also voted against the resolution are Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, Syria, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

According to international news agencies, more countries than expected eventually voted in favor of the document that essentially labels Russia as an aggressor.

On Wednesday a source at the Armenian Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) that Armenia was likely to abstain.

But in an explanatory note before the vote Armenia’s Representative to the UN Karen Nazarian said: “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.”