Eighteen African countries abstained from voting for or against a United Nations resolution that condemned Russia over its illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories.

Four others did not cast a vote at all meaning as many as 32 African countries voted in favour of the resolution that garnered 143 YES votes, 5 NO votes and 35 ABSTENTIONS.

The abstaining nations were:

Burundi

Central African Republic

Congo Republic

Eritrea

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Guinea

Lesotho

Mali

Mozambique

South Africa

South Sudan

Sudan

Togo

Uganda

Tanzania and

Zimbabwe

A UN statement on the vote read: "The results were 143 Member States in favour, with five voting against, and 35 abstentions. The countries who voted against were Belarus, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria.

"A majority of those countries abstaining were African nations, alongside China and India.

"The resolution “defending the principles” of the UN Charter, notes that the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia as a result of aggression, violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence," it added.

The quartet that did not vote at all were, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome e Principe.

Source: Ghanaweb