On April 16, in a notable shift in foreign policy, Armenia voted in favor of a European Union-backed resolution at the United Nations General Assembly condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and Georgia.
The 12-page resolution, adopted late Wednesday, calls for deepening cooperation between the UN and the Council of Europe. It cites “unprecedented challenges now facing Europe following the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and against Georgia prior to that” as grounds for expanded collaboration.
The non-binding resolution was approved by 105 countries, with 9 voting against and 33 abstaining. Russia and, notably, the United States were among the few countries that opposed the measure.
The resolution also welcomed the Council of Europe’s creation of a “Register of Damage” caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and endorsed the idea of establishing a special tribunal to address the crime of aggression.
A Russian representative sharply criticized the resolution during the UN debate, accusing the Council of Europe of serving as a “platform for promoting pseudo-legal, legally null and void initiatives.” Moscow withdrew from the Council in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Armenia’s support for the resolution marks a departure from its earlier voting patterns. In previous years, Yerevan abstained from multiple UN resolutions that condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine. However, relations between Yerevan and Moscow have soured significantly in recent months, with Armenian officials offering increasingly vocal criticism of their long-time ally.
In early 2024, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonian publicly affirmed Yerevan’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity — a statement that drew a swift rebuke from Moscow.
As of now, the Russian Foreign Ministry had not commented on Armenia’s vote. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova did not address the issue during her weekly press briefing.
