CRI听力:UN Declares Crimea Referendum Illegal

The United Nations General Assembly has declared the referendum that lead to Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal.

The vote on the Ukraine-sponsored resolution was 100 in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia.

"The purpose of this document is to reinforce core United Nations principles at a moment when they are experiencing a major challenge. This text is also about respect of territorial integrity and non-use of force to settle disputes."

Unlike the more powerful Security Council, resolutions in the General Assembly cannot be vetoed.

However, the resolutions in the General Assembly are not legally binding.

Russia's UN Ambassador did lobby for a "no" vote.

Vitaly Churkin contends an historic injustice in Crimea has been corrected, saying its people have expressed their right to self-determination in wanting to join Russia.

He is also describing the resolution as "confrontational in nature."

In Ukraine's capital Kiev, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has announced that she will run in the forthcoming presidential elections set for May 25th.

"I am planning to run for the post of president of Ukraine. On the 29th of March there will be a congress during which I will ask my party to officially nominate me as their candidate for the highest post in the land."

Tymoshenko was recently released from jail following the overthrow of her political rival, President Viktor Yanukovych.

This will be her second attempt to secure the presidency.

She narrowly lost to Yanukovych in 2010, and was sent to prison shortly afterward after being convicted of misusing state funds during her time as Prime Minister.