Ukraine question

Islamabad has exhibited some tactful diplomacy at the United Nations. It abstained to vote on a motion in which the General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine after Moscow had earlier vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council.

It had also abstained a day ago on a Russian resolution for a secret ballot. By doing so, Pakistan has kept the space open for diplomatic tête-à-tête and plausible rapprochement with both the poles of power. The resolution was carried by 143 votes, with 35 abstentions and five opposing it.

Pakistan has rightly distanced from annoying Moscow at this critical juncture, and at the same time maintained diplomatically-correct relations with Washington. It, nonetheless, does not come to compromise Pakistan’s stated position on the upheavals in Ukraine and the ongoing invasion of Russia, as it calls for an amicable solution to a fissure that has plunged the world into a neo-economic crisis.

Russia’s quest to conceal the possible condemnation of its role in Ukraine through a secret session stood battered, and the open vote called the spade a spade. This speaks highly of the consciousness with which the member states eye aggressions, and are scared of conflagration in the heartland of EurAsia.

A sizable 35 countries abstained, whereas India which surprisingly had shifted its goal post earlier and stood with the Western alignment in opposing a secret ballot, was conspicuous by its absence in the open vote. The Ukraine crisis is taking a toll across the globe. It has severely impacted the supply chain of food and energy, and on the verge of a chilling winter, it is likely to hit horrendous proportions.

President Vladimir Putin’s zig-zag strategy in the encroached territories to seek lego-political legitimacy is making the equation quite complicated. The US and Europe have not been able to come up with a formidable response neither on ground nor on the diplomatic canvas, and this has emboldened the annexation psyche of the Kremlin. It would be wise to let Ukraine be neutral and free it from Moscow and Brussels’ entanglemen