Security Council Holds Special Session Regarding Ukraine Crisis [1]
On February 27, 2022, the Security Council held an emergency special session of the General Assembly on the Ukraine Crisis, adopting Resolution 2623 (2022) [3] by 11 Votes in Favor, 1 Against, and 3 Abstentions. Specifically, the special session was held to answer the question of “whether to use armed force, when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.” Russia was the only state to vote against the resolution. According to a UN press release [4], in speaking on Russia’s decision to veto the Resolution “[t]he speaker for the United States said the Russian Federation may have vetoed Friday’s resolution, but Moscow cannot veto the Ukrainian people and cannot veto the United Nations Charter.” Several others gave statements including representatives from Russia, Albania, Ireland, United Kingdom, India, Gabon, United Arab Emirates, and Ghana. This was the first special session of its kind in years, as “[t]he Security Council had last called for convening an emergency special session of the General Assembly in 1982.”