Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and after Morocco held on tight to its neutrality at the heart of the United Nations, he remained absent from meetings to discuss resolutions concerning the situation. Morocco finally decided to vote on Wednesday, October 12th, in favor of the condemnation of Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian territories.
This comes in light of the principles Morocco holds and believes in, especially those related to the inviolability of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
This General Assembly of the United Nations resolution got a total of 143 countries voting against Russia’s federal annexation of Ukrainian regions, with 34 countries abstaining, most of them from Africa, such as Algeria.
The resolution was rejected by 5 countries, including Russia, as it is the concerned country, as well as the other four countries, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, and Nicaragua.
Source: General Assembly of the United Nations
Although Algeria is considered a key ally of Russia, voting in its favor since the beginning of this crisis at the General Assembly of the United Nations, Algeria has unexpectedly chosen to abstain from voting. Such decisions come from fear of reactions by the west, especially the United States of America.
Moreover, most Arab countries opted to vote in favor of the resolution, rejecting Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, such as the Kingdom of Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, UAE, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The most prominent observation regarding this abstention is that it emanates from countries above that belong to the African continent.
Keeping in mind that Burkina Faso had recently witnessed a massive power struggle with Russia’s support, which ended with the departure of the former military President allied with France. Burkina Faso opted out of voting on the decision to condemn Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian areas, which makes it clear that Russia is in the process of extending its influence over several African countries.