Russia on February 25 vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that would have deplored Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The veto, which had been expected, quashed the draft resolution in the Security Council, but it is expected to be taken up later by the 193-member UN General Assembly.
The resolution was always doomed to fail because of Moscow's veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council.
Eleven of the council's 15 members voted for the resolution, which was co-written by the United States and Albania. China, India, and the United Arab Emirates abstained.
China’s abstention was viewed favorably by Western countries, coming just weeks after Beijing and Moscow declared a "no limits" partnership.
The UN vote was delayed two hours for last minute negotiations by the United States and others to win the Chinese abstention, diplomats quoted by Reuters said.
The U.S. and the British ambassadors hailed the resolution despite its failure.
"We are united behind Ukraine and its people, despite a reckless, irresponsible permanent member of the Security Council abusing its power to attack its neighbor and subvert the UN and our international system," U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
"Russia, you can veto this resolution, but you cannot veto our voices, you cannot veto the truth, you cannot veto our principles, you cannot veto the Ukrainian people,” she added.
Britain's UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward told the council that Russia is isolated.
“It has no support for the invasion of Ukraine," she said after the vote.
During a two hour delay of the vote the resolution’s drafters softened the language to say it "deplores" Russia's "aggression against Ukraine" from "condemns," while a reference to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sanctions and authorization of force, was removed along with a reference to "the president."
The resolution demanded that Russia "immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine" and "immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders."
The draft also demanded that Russia reverse its recognition of two separatist states in eastern Ukraine as independent.