Posted on 19 April 2022
On the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, South Africa gave a clear message that Russia should immediately withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter. Ten days later, however, in the vote in the UN General Assembly on 2 March, South Africa could not bring itself to agree to a resolution condemning Moscow’s aggression.
While South Africa has been heavily criticised for its voting behaviour and the justification provided, it says a lot about what is sometimes thought and occasionally said in emerging and developing countries. DevPolicyBlog explores the multiple viewpoints arising out of developing countries regarding the Ukraine crisis, and the reasons for this.
Different perspectives are demonstrated particularly strongly on the African continent. Russian aggression against Ukraine is also an issue that is not uniformly assessed in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.