In times of trouble, a person or country discovers who their true friends are. Such insights can be disillusioning. The war in Ukraine has produced a number of such disturbing moments, for the government in Kyiv but also for the western democracies that are its most ardent supporters. “Whose side are you on?” is a crude but necessary question when international law is flouted and innocent people begin to die in large numbers.
The UN general assembly’s non-binding resolution last week condemning Russia’s invasion, demanding its immediate, unconditional withdrawal and calling for a “just and lasting peace”, was backed by 141 countries. But 32 abstained and seven voted against. That North Korea, Syria, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Belarus sided with Russia is unsurprising. It says much about the benighted condition of all these ill-led pariah regimes.
