MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday dismissed a UN resolution declaring Crimea's referendum invalid as "counterproductive" and called on the international community to help stabilize the situation in crisis-hit Ukraine.
On Thursday, the 193-nation UN General Assembly passed the non-binding resolution with 100 votes in favor, 58 abstentions, and 11 against, including Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe in addition to Russia.
"The counterproductive initiative of the General Assembly's resolution only complicates efforts to stabilize the domestic political crisis in Ukraine," the ministry said, calling on officials to respect the results of the Crimean vote.
The ministry added Ukraine's attempts to misrepresent the crisis are aimed at distracting international attention away from the escalation of domestic tensions, seeking instead to shift blame onto Russia for the country's internal problems.
In the wake of rising ultranationalist rhetoric in Kiev, the country's largely Russian-speaking republic of Crimea sought reunification with Russia, a move backed by over 96 percent of voters in a referendum held in the region earlier this month.
The reunification of Crimea with Russia was finalized last week, following the republic's appeal to Moscow to rejoin the country after having been undemocratically gifted to Ukraine by Soviet leaders 60 years ago.
Western powers have refused to recognize the results of the referendum, which Russian President Vladimir Putin says was in full compliance with the UN charter and international law.
Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said the UN vote clearly showed that Russia does not stand by itself. "The result is rather satisfying for us as we have won a moral and a political victory," he said.
The US and EU have imposed sanctions on senior Russian officials, whom they believe assisted Crimea's reunification bid, and warned Russia of international isolation if tensions over Ukraine continue to escalate.
Russia's Foreign Ministry earlier said that talking to Russia in the language of sanctions is "inappropriate and counterproductive" and warned its Western partners that sanctions would have a boomerang effect.
