Macron admonishes countries' neutrality on Ukraine

French President Emanuel Macron admonished countries Tuesday not to stay neutral about condemning Russia's war in Ukraine as he declared that Moscow's invasion amounts to a new form of imperialism.

In an impassioned speech to the assembly, the French President said no country can stand on the sidelines in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Macron made the war the centrepiece of his speech, arguing that the conflict threatens to usher in a world where "the security and sovereignty of everyone no longer depends on a balance of strength, on the strength of alliances, but rather that of armed groups and militias."

"Who here can defend the idea that the invasion of Ukraine justifies no sanction?" he asked. "Who of you here can consider that the day when something similar with a more powerful neighbor happens to you, there'll be silence from the region, from the world?"

In two General Assembly resolutions in March, soon after Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, about 140 of the U.N.'s member nations overwhelmingly deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine, called for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of all Russian forces, and urged protection for millions of civilians.

But more than 30 countries abstained, including China, India and South Africa.

On April 7, some 58 nations abstained from voting on a measure calling for Russia's suspension from the Human Rights Council. It passed, 93-24.

Macron called on the U.N.'s member countries "to act so that Russia rejects the path of war," and he said that staying out of the matter isn't an option.

"Those who are keeping silent today actually are, in a way, complicit with a cause of a new imperialism, a new order that is trampling over the current order, and there's no peace possible here," he said. "The war in Ukraine must not be a conflict that leaves anyone indifferent."

Macron spoke shortly after Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to start voting this week to become integral parts of Russia.

The Kremlin-backed votes, in territory Russia already controls, are all but certain to go Moscow's way.

Western leaders who are backing Kyiv with military and other support have dismissed the votes as illegitimate.

"Russia must now understand that it cannot impose its will by military means, even if it cynically combines it with mock referendums in bombed and now occupied territories," said the French President.