UN vote on INF Treaty was revealing

Editor's note: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that international security and stability will be further undermined after a draft resolution in support of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was rejected in a United Nations vote. Xiakedao, a WeChat account owned by People's Daily, comments:

As expected, the draft resolution has not been adopted, as among the 187 members eligible to cast a vote, 43 supported it, 46 vetoed it, and 78 abstained from voting.

The large number of abstentions is no surprise as these are countries that have no desire to be dragged into the tussle between Russia and the United States. Despite these concerns Moscow still marshaled 43 votes in support, which also shows the international community's concern over a step backward for nuclear weapons control and disarmament efforts.