India abstains as historic UNGA vote demands Russia to leave Ukraine 'immediately'

In a historic voteat the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday, countries condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.The assembly "overwhelmingly" demanded Moscow to withdraw from Kyiv "immediately," with a call for "just and lasting" peace.

In the assembly, 141 voted in favour of the resolution, 32 abstained, including China and India and sevenvoted against it.

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It also demanded the Russian Federation to "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," and called "for a cessation of hostilities."

The vote comes after two days of debate where Kyiv urged the international community to choose "between good and evil."

The resolution reaffirmed support for Ukraine's "sovereignty" and "territorial integrity."

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi during the debate said, "next year, we should not meet here to mark the second anniversary of this senseless war of aggression."

Catherine Colonna, French Foreign Minister said, "Russia can and must stop, tomorrow."

Despite these votes, Russia dismissed the resolution where its representative Vasily Nebenzya callied Ukraine "neo-Nazi" and accused the West of sacrificing the country and the development of world in their desire to beat Moscow.

"They are ready to plunge the entire world into the abyss of war" to maintain their own "hegemony," Nebenzya said.

The vote also showed India and China had not been swayed to outright condemn Russia's invasion, even while both have criticised Moscow's threats to deploy weapons in the conflict.

(with inputs from agencies)

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