(Cnn in Spanish) — The population of Ukraine has almost two months subjected to intense bombardment as ground fighting continues once morest Russian forces, which invaded the country on February 24 following President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in its territory following months of tensions in anticipation of an invasion. But who are the allies that each party has in the face of this invasion?
Ukraine’s allies
Ukraine has been progressively drawing closer to the West in recent decades, stating on different occasions its intentions to join the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Kyiv managed to sign a association trade agreement with the EU in 2014and although it has not advanced in a possible entry to the EU or NATO in the face of strong Russian pressure, it has approached both organizations and especially Germany, France and the United States.
Shortly following the Russian attack became known, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke specifically of the United States’ support for his country. “A minute ago I had a conversation with President Biden. The US has already begun to rally international support,” said.
In the following days, the United States and Europe launched an unprecedented battery of sanctions once morest Russia, and numerous NATO countries, including EE.UU., Reino Unido Y Germanyintensified their shipments of weapons that have been key to the Ukrainian war effort.
But they were not the only ones to supply weapons to Ukraine. Czech Republic Shipping tanks, Slovakia S-300 air defense systems and Australia armored vehicles, among others.
Those who have shown their support, and those who have not
Without becoming partners or allies, most of the international community has shown its support for Ukraine and rejected the Russian invasion.
The General Assembly of the United Nations approved on March 2 a resolution (A/RES/ES-11/1) which reaffirms support for the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, considers Russian aggression “deplorable” and demands that Russia cease the use of force and withdraw its troops. It was approved with 141 votes in favor, 5 once morest and 35 abstentions.
The long list of countries that voted in favor is here. While the five votes once morest come from Russia, Belarus and Syria (Russia’s allies), North Korea and Eritrea.
Who abstained? Angola, Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, China, Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Central African Republic, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
While Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela were absent.
Kazakhstan, which abstained, and Uzbekistan, which was absent and is a prominent partner of Russia, have nevertheless announced that they will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Archyde.com reported. So did Azerbaijan, absent in the vote, by sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to the country’s state news agency.
But it did not stop there. At the beginning of April, the General Assembly vote to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council. The result of the vote was 93 in favor and 24 once morest, while 58 abstained.
Russia and its partners
President Vladimir Putin’s government has only one major ally in the region: Aleksandr Lukashenko’s Belarus. In fact, a large number of Russian soldiers were deployed on the border between Belarus and Ukraine in recent months.
There have been reports of a possible sending forces from Belarus to fight in the war, that have not been confirmed, but Minsk did surprise the world by changing its status of a country without nuclear weapons, few days following the invasion.
Outside the region, Russia maintains a close relationship with China, a country with which usually act in coordination with the United Nations and with him he proclaimed last month that their friendship “has no limits”.
Beijing has so far offered no support for Moscow’s actions, but has not questioned them either and said it would start import russian wheata move that might ease the impact of Western sanctions on Russia.
However, the war has been beginning to affect the relationship, and in recent days China has been quietly distancing itself from Russiafor fear of being affected by the numerous sanctions imposed once morest Moscow.
In Latin America, Russia cultivates strong ties with Cuba, Venezuela Y Nicaragua. While in the Middle East Moscow has maintained a significant presence since 2015 in Syriadevastated by the civil War, and in support of President Bashar al-Aassad.
In fact, many of the Russian soldiers participating in the invasion of Ukraine have experience fighting in Syria –including General Andrei Sukhovetsky, recently killed in combat–, and Russian state media showed footage of suspected Syrian volunteers preparing to travel to Ukraine to fight for Moscow.
