Feb. 22 (UPI) — The U.N. General Assembly gathered in New York Wednesday for an emergency session to debate resolutions to the U.N. Charter that may name for a cease-fire in Ukraine and for Russia to depart the nation.

The assembly is anticipated to final late into the week, with most member nations voicing their help for the draft resolution. The decision requires a direct cease-fire, accountability by Russia for its alleged crimes in Ukraine, and for Russia to right away depart Ukraine.

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The emergency session comes forward of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24.

“Let this anniversary and the anguish of millions before our eyes over the last year serve as a reminder to all of us here in this hall that military solutions will not end this war,” Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi mentioned.

“Too many lives, livelihoods, families, and communities have been lost. Russia can end its aggression and the war it has unleashed. Russia must end this hell of bloodshed.”

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned Russia’s invasion as “illegal” and “unprovoked.”

“Colleagues, this vote will go down in history,” she mentioned. “On the one-year anniversary of this conflict, we will see where the nations of the world stand on the matter of peace in Ukraine.”

The U.N. estimates greater than 20,000 non-combatants have been killed in Ukraine and one other 13,000 have been injured.

Gilad Menashe, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., voiced help for Ukraine whereas criticizing different nations’ in aiding Russia, saying it’s time for the worldwide group to take motion in opposition to Iran earlier than it turns into a totally nuclear-capable menace to the Middle East and the world. He cited using Iranian army tools in opposition to Ukraine as a sign of the menace it poses.

“Israel remains steadfast in continuing our support [for Ukraine] and even expanding it,” Menashe mentioned.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned an Iranian unmanned aerial automobile producer earlier this month over allegedly supplying Russia with aerial help.

Australian Ambassador Mitch Fifield mentioned that the consequences of Russia’s invasion have created crises past Ukraine’s border. Chief amongst them is the destabilizing impact the struggle has had on the world economic system. He mentioned his delegation helps the decision as a result of it sends a number of sturdy messages.

“We will not accept a situation where larger countries determine the fate of smaller countries,” he mentioned. “It shows President [Vladimir] Putin that Russia’s prolonged war impacts all nations and all people.”

Most ambassadors voiced their help for demanding that Russia finish its invasion, however not all. Bassam Sabbagh, ambassador for the Syrian Arab Republic, mentioned the actions of western nations of their help of Ukraine quantity to “political hypocrisy.” Sabbagh didn’t identify particular member nations, however he cited western nations which have supplied a “relentless flow of all types of arsenals and weapons into Ukraine.”

Sabbagh mentioned these similar nations need to see a violent struggle in Europe. He mentioned Syria rejects the decision.

“Paradoxically, those same countries threaten and intimidate other countries’ to prevent them from standing by the Russian Federation and its legitimate defense of its security and its direct borders,” Sabbagh mentioned.

While Sabbagh positioned the decision as a “biased” act in opposition to Russia, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the decision is simply about taking a stand in opposition to the Kremlin.

“This is about saying to the invader, to the aggressor, that he cannot use the law of force in order to impose its will,” he mentioned. “That is what the resolution is about: a call to the international community that should be echoed in the Kremlin in order to understand that they are losing this war militarily, they are losing this war morally and politically.”