UN General Assembly declares Crimea secession vote invalid

UNITED NATIONS - The UN General Assembly on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution declaring invalid Crimea's Moscow-backed referendum earlier this month on seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia.

There were 100 votes in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions in the 193-nation assembly. A number of countries did not participate in the vote. Western diplomats said the number of yes votes was higher than expected despite what they said was Moscow's aggressive lobbying efforts against the resolution. — Reuters