UN votes to hold emergency General Assembly session on Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council voted Sunday to hold a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly to discuss Russia's attack on Ukraine.

The meeting will be convened on Monday, and is set to give all 193 members of the global body the opportunity to express their views on the invasion.

Russia voted against the resolution, but under UN regulations it did not have veto power to derail the referral of the war to the General Assembly.

The procedure is allowed under a 1950 resolution called "Uniting for Peace."

It allows for members of the Security Council to seize the General Assembly for a special session if the five permanent members -- Russia, the United States, Britain, France and China -- fail to agree among themselves to act together to maintain peace.

The move was sparked by Russia on Friday using its veto to block a Security Council resolution that condemned Moscow's invasion and called for the immediate withdrawal of its troops.

Only the support of nine of the council's 15 members is required to call an emergency special session of the General Assembly.

Eleven countries voted in favor. Russia opposed, while the United Arab Emirates, China and India abstained.

It will just be the 11th such session that the assembly has held, according to diplomats.

The discussion is expected to highlight the extent of Russia's isolation in the international community over the invasion of Ukraine.

"The council members who supported this resolution recognize that this is no ordinary moment," said US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

"These are issues that affect all member states and now in the General Assembly they can all make their voices heard on Russia's war of choice," she added.

Monday's session is scheduled to start at 10:00 am in New York (1500 GMT) and is expected to last at least all day.

On Monday, the Security Council is scheduled to hold at 5:00 pm an emergency meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

It was requested by French President Emmanuel Macron and will feature officials from the UN's humanitarian affairs and refugee agencies, according to diplomats.