Monday marked the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. To mark the occasion, Ukraine sponsored a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly condemning the Russian invasion and supporting “the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
The resolution passed with 93 countries in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstaining.
That marked a steep drop-off in support for Ukraine – and condemnation of Russia – since a similar UNGA resolution was adopted in 2022, by a count of 141 in favor, five against, and 35 abstaining.
One of the biggest changes: the United States was among the countries to change its vote from a “yes” to a “no.” Washington, previously under the Biden administration, had been at the forefront of mobilizing support for Ukraine on the international stage. The newly inaugurated Trump administration, however, has repeatedly denigrated Ukraine and pursued peace talks with Russia, while accusing Kyiv of starting the war.
Clearly, the majority of the global community continues to condemn Russia’s aggression. But just as clearly, the approbation is not as loud as before – and some of the switches in UNGA voting appear directly tied to the United States’ own change of heart. How is this playing out in the Asia-Pacific region?
For reference, here’s my overview of the 2022 vote:
Within the Asia-Pacific region covered by The Diplomat, just two countries voted against the resolution: Russia itself and North Korea. Ten countries abstained: Bangladesh, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan did not vote at all.) Meanwhile, 14 Asia-Pacific countries not only voted in favor but co-sponsored the resolution: Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Samoa, Singapore, and Timor-Leste.
In 2025, 20 countries in The Diplomat’s coverage area voted yes on the resolution, and four voted no – Russia and North Korea, as in 2022, but also the Marshall Islands and Palau. Sixteen countries abstained, including four that had supported the 2022 resolution: Brunei, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and Tuvalu. (Uzbekistan, which also abstained this time, did not vote at all on the 2022 resolution.)
Overall, then, Asia-Pacific voting patterns in the UNGA remained largely consistent – but the few exceptions are telling. The United States’ three Freely Associated partners in the Pacific – the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau – all shifted support away from Ukraine, changing their yes votes in 2022 to either abstentions or outright no votes.
This is the most obvious sign in the Asia-Pacific region of the U.S. shift impacting other countries’ stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. Other U.S. allies that had been vocal about opposing Russia’s invasion – Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea – all continued to back the UNGA resolution reiterating that position.
In other regions, the story was one of continuity rather than change. As in 2022, all of the Central Asian states either abstained from the voting or did not vote. However, it’s notable that none of them outright rejected the resolution, despite an overall shift in the number of countries supporting Russia. Clearly, Moscow’s efforts to sway Central Asian governments to support them have not succeeded.
Northeast Asia saw the exact same voting patterns replicated, with U.S. allies Japan and South Korea supporting Ukraine, North Korea supporting Russia, and China and Mongolia abstaining. This year, however, China’s choice to abstain, rather than outright vote against the resolution was all the more notable, given the United States’ change in position. On the same day of the UNGA vote, China’s President Xi Jinping spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, declaring China and Russia “true friends that share hardships, support each other, and pursue common development.” Apparently that support didn’t extend to this particular UNGA vote.
In South Asia, too, the voting was largely the same – Bhutan, the Maldives, and Nepal all supported Ukraine’s resolution, while Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka all abstained. The only change was Afghanistan, which voted “yes” in 2022 but did not vote this time around. But that’s less a change in position than the result of a shift in the U.N. bureaucracy. In 2022, Afghanistan was still represented at the United Nations by the former Afghan Republic’s ambassador; that’s no longer the case, but the Taliban’s nominee has yet to be recognized.
Southeast Asia continued to be a strong bulwark of support for Ukraine, if only rhetorically. Of the 10 ASEAN members, seven – Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – voted in favor of the resolution, as did ASEAN member-in-waiting Timor-Leste. The only exception was Brunei, which pulled back on its previous yes vote to abstain this time. Vietnam and Laos, which have close ties to Russia, also abstained, as they did in 2022.
Oceania is the most interesting portion of the Asia-Pacific in terms of its shifting voting patterns. As noted above, two of the United States’ allies among the Pacific Island states – the Marshall Islands and Palau – joined Washington in rejecting this year’s resolution after supporting the 2022 version. The Federated States of Micronesia also shifted its vote, but opted to abstain rather than vote no. In a sign of the chaotic behind-the-scenes diplomacy that preceded the vote, all three were still listed among the resolution’s co-sponsors in the draft version dated February 18, even though none of them voted for it in the end. That further suggests that their change in position was not one of principle, but strongly influences by the United States’ own shocking decision to vote no.
Two other Pacific Islands states also abstained after supporting the 2022 resolution: Kiribati and Tuvalu. Interestingly, both are seen as occupying different camps in the geopolitical competition in the Pacific Islands region. Kiribati has grown closer to China since forging official relations in 2019, while Tuvalu inked a security deal with Australia in 2023. Equally fascinating, the Solomon Islands – which is also seen as close to China – voted to support Ukraine in both 2022 and 2025.
The UNGA voting this time around showed the impact of geopolitical affiliation as well as its limits. Despite the United States’ change in position, very few of its allies in the Asia-Pacific followed suit, and some close partners of China’s – not only the Solomon Islands but also Cambodia – voted yes despite Beijing’s preference for shielding Russia from criticism. But the big question is whether such UNGA resolutions really matter in a context where the United States and Russia seem poised to decide Ukraine’s fate between themselves.
