By Okech Francis
Representatives of western nations in South Sudan have condemned the Russian invasion on Ukraine and are asking the African nation to condemn the act and vote against it at a United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.
Russia waged war on Ukraine last week and continues pressing on with its invasion, defying mounting global pressure that saw a war crimes probe opened against it and sanctions smash its economy.
According to Ukraine’s government, more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed during the invasion, while more than half a million people have fled the country.
Diplomats from the European Union countries as well as the United States and Japan raised the Ukrainian flag at the European Union compound in South Sudan’s capital in a show of solidarity with the European nation under siege.
“Tomorrow it’s a crucial vote for all the international community and South Sudan will be part of the action, so we hope, we expect from South Sudan, to stand to the UN values and principals and to vote in favour of this UN resolution,” Marc Trouyet, the French Ambassador, told reporters in Juba.
“This is a complete sovereign right of South Sudan to decide what vote it is going to be and we are not going to be offended by any choice that South Sudan will make,” Trouyet said.
“We just hope that it will stand with the values that allowed the creation and recognition of South Sudan in 2011.”
Echoing Trouyet, the UK and Norway diplomats called on South Sudan to vote wisely against the aggression, alongside the other 192 member states of the UN.
“Hopefully the government of South Sudan will have a clear stake and condemn this violation of the international order of peace,” Siv Kayerjen, of Norway said.
Solidarity with Ukraine
According to the European Union Deputy Head of Delegation, Dionyz Hochel, the body will continue to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and force Russia to stop the invasion.
“We raise the flag of Ukraine in the spirit of the UN Charter, in the spirit of a symbol of solidarity and support for Ukraine and its people in the face of Russian military aggression,” Dionyz Hochel, told the press.
The invasion infringes on rights of both the Ukrainians and Russian people who are forced to commit to a senseless war, the Japanese ambassador to South Sudan, Naohiro Tsutsumi, said.
“The Russian invasion is unacceptable because it violates the international order we have for peace,” Tsutsumi said.
“This is unacceptable because it also sacrifices Russian soldiers in a senseless war,” he said.
Heavy price for Russia
Russia is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, which is set for the vote on the aggression.
The United States of America warned consequences will be grave on the Eastern European country for its “unprecedented” action to invade a sovereign state in the modern era.
“Russia chose to float its obligation under the United Nations,” the US Charge de Affairs in South Sudan, David Renz, said.
“Russia chose aggression and Russia will pay a heavy price now and for years to come,” Renz said.
