ArmInfo. Ukraine has painfully perceived Armenia's voting on the UN resolution on Crimea, Vice Speaker of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Irina Gerashchenko says.
"Ukraine has perceived most painfully the voting of Armenia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. We respect the right of Armenia and Kazakhstan to their special relations with the Russian Federation. As regards the stand of Belarus, we qualify it as a stab in the back," Gerashchenko says.
She stresses that Armenia and Kazakhstan should realize that today Ukraine, its people and army "are fighting not only for their own independence, but also for the independence of all the post-Soviet countries". "We defend the post-Soviet countries' right to independent foreign policy," she notes.
To note, on November 15 Armenia voted against the Ukrainian draft resolution on Crimea approved by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs. The document condemns the situation with human rights in Crimea. The resolution was supported by 73 states, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and European Union countries. A total of 23 states voted against, including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, China and India. 76 countries abstained. The four-page document, put forward by Ukraine, condemns discrimination and human rights abuses against residents of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian minorities.
Armenia explained its position in the following way: "While the current resolution is introduced in the human rights context, the references to the principle of territorial integrity, that are selectively applied at the expense of other principles of international law, including the right of people to self-determination, go beyond the declared objective of the document".