Blinken: "Putin Has Never Been More Isolated”

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken said on Thursday the U.N. General Assembly’s vote to condemn Moscow for its attempt to annex more areas of Ukraine shows that “Putin has never been more isolated," TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Speaking during a joint press availability with Mexican officials at the State Department, Blinken reminded that 143 countries, including the U.S. and Mexico, condemned Russia’s sham referenda as a clear violation of international law, and unequivocally rejected any attempt by Moscow to illegally annex Ukraine’s sovereign territory.

As much as a condemnation of Moscow, the UN resolution is "also a resounding affirmation of global support for everything that President Putin is actually trying to destroy," Blinken said.

He then went on to add, "it’s a vote affirming the right of every nation – big and small – to have its sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity respected. A vote affirming our shared commitment to upholding the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law. A vote affirming the human rights of all people, including Ukrainian civilians, who continue to suffer barbaric atrocities at the hands of Russian forces."

With this vote, Blinken said, "the world has never been more united in its repudiation of Russia’s war, and President Putin has never been more isolated."

*The UNGA on Wednesday voted to condemn Russia for its attempt to annex more areas of Ukraine. The final vote was marked as 143 in favor of the resolution, 5 nations against it and 35 abstentions, while 10 countries, including Azerbaijan, were absent from the vote.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.