UNITED NATIONS, United States, March 18, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Russia canceled a
UN Security Council vote on a "humanitarian" resolution on Ukraine, scheduled
for Friday, due to a lack of support from its closest allies, diplomats said.

  Moscow failed to secure co-sponsorship of the draft text from China and
India, suggesting that neither Beijing nor New Delhi were going to support
it, an ambassador told AFP on Thursday.

  Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, later confirmed during a
council meeting on Ukraine that the vote would not happen.

  The resolution never had a chance of adoption because it would have been
vetoed by western powers.

  Russia, however, had hoped that some votes in favor would have shown it
still has some support on the world stage following its all-out assault on
Ukraine.

  Moscow had already twice postponed the vote on the controversial
resolution, which condemned attacks on civilians and called for their safe
passage.

  Russia filed the draft resolution Tuesday on the "deteriorating
humanitarian situation in Ukraine" and requested a vote for the following
day.

  It then changed its mind and asked for the vote to be moved to Thursday,
before opting for Friday.

  "This week, perversely, Russia tabled a resolution that, among other
things, called for the protection of civilians, including women and
children," said British ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward.

  "This is cynical game-playing in the face of extreme human suffering," she
added.

  The United States' envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Russia's
resolution was "farcical" and "doomed to fail."

  France and Mexico plan to put a humanitarian resolution on Ukraine they co-
drafted to a vote in the General Assembly

  The assembly earlier this month massively approved a resolution condemning
Russia's February 24 invasion of its neighbor. That resolution received 141
votes in favor, five votes against and 35 abstentions.