The vote showed that India and China were not moved to explicitly condemn Moscow’s aggression, while both criticized Moscow’s threats to deploy nuclear weapons in the conflict.
Prior to the vote Dai Bing, China’s deputy representative to the United Nations, took a neutral stance and called on both sides to stop fighting and enter peace talks.
“We support Russia and Ukraine to move towards each other and resume direct talks as soon as possible,” he said.
But he also voiced Russia’s justification for the invasion, that its own security was at risk from Ukraine’s tilt toward Western Europe and NATO.
Any agreement, he said, “must give due respect to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, so that their legitimate security aspirations are properly addressed.”