Ukraine Crisis: Why Egypt Voted for UNGA's Resolution?

Egypt voted Wednesday in favor of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations condemning the "aggression against Ukraine" and calling on Russia to withdraw its forces immediately.

Cairo and Moscow are strategic partners and both countries have common interests. However, the Egyptian voting does not mean being an enemy to Russia.

In the following line, SEE shall elaborate motives behind the Egyptian stance: 

A few hours after the UNGA-resolution voting, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry released a press statement explaining its point of view.

The statement stated that "Looking for a quick political solution to end the crisis through dialogue and peaceful means and through active diplomacy must remain in the sights of all of us and the primary goal of the entire international community in dealing with the current crisis."

"Therefore, the political space must be provided to achieve that political goal," the statement read.

Egypt emphasized that a radical discussion of the causes of the current crisis should not be overlooked and dealing with it in a way that guarantees defused the crisis and achieving security and stability.

In the meantime, Egypt categorically rejected the approach of employing economic sanctions outside the framework of the mechanisms of the multilateral international system.

Cairo believes that previous experiences had severe negative humanitarian effects, and led to the aggravation of the suffering of civilians over the past decades.

Hence, Egypt called on all parties to assume the due responsibility to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to everyone in need without any discrimination, while ensuring the smooth passage of foreign residents across the border, amid reports about discriminatory treatment.

Moreover, Egypt renewed the warning of the consequences of the economic and social effects of the current crisis on the entire global economy, which is still suffering from the repercussions of the pandemic.

At the conclusion of its emergency session, Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning “in the strongest terms” the Russian aggression against Ukraine, and calling on Russia to immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and to refrain from any threat or unlawful use of force against any member state.

The resolution demanded Russia's immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

141 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 5 countries voted against the resolution and 35 countries abstained. The resolution needed two-thirds of the votes to be adopted.

The countries that voted against the resolution are Russia, Syria, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and among the countries that abstained are Iraq, Algeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Iran, India, Pakistan, Cuba and China.

The resolution reaffirmed commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, which extend to its territorial waters.