The UN General Assembly adopts a resolution on a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. (UN Photo/Loey Felipe).

South Sudan has joined 30 African countries and over 100 world nations in voting to call for peace in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly, after abstaining with Madagascar and others last year.

The rest of the world has overwhelmingly voted to ask Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine on the first anniversary of the war.

On February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, which Moscow terms a “special military operation.”

On Thursday, 141 countries at the UN General Assembly backed the resolution calling for a “comprehensive, just, and lasting peace” in Ukraine.

However, thirty-two countries including China, India, Pakistan, and 15 African countries abstained from voting.

Seven countries, including Russia, Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria voted against it.

When contacted, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Dau Deng said South Sudan did not condemn the war but called for peace in eastern Europe.

“It is not called condemnation but a principle underlining a just peace in Ukraine,” he told Eye Radio.

“So, it is not only South Sudan. There are many countries that are at war and have said yes, they want the war to end, not only in Ukraine but in other parts of the world.”