GENEVA, April 5. /TASS/. Twenty countries participating in the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva declined to support the anti-Russian resolution initiated by countries of the collective West.

The document, which provides for a one-year extension of the mandate of the commission to investigate human rights violations in Ukraine, was approved by 27 out of 47 votes, including three votes against (Burundi, China and Eritrea), while 17 countries abstained.

The resolution, which is deliberately anti-Russian and does not reflect reality, was co-sponsored mainly by countries of the collective West, but also by Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Argentina, Costa Rica and Ecuador. The nine-page document uses assessments and narratives typically heard from the nations on Russia's list of unfriendly countries. Thus, Russia's actions are called "aggression," the resolution calls for a rapid withdrawal of troops, and condemns the holding of elections in Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya.

The mandate of the commission set up earlier by the UNHRC at the initiative of Western countries to put political pressure on Russia to investigate the events in Ukraine has been extended for one year.

Burundi, China and Eritrea voted against the anti-Russian resolution at the session. Seventeen countries, including Brazil, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba and South Africa, abstained. The 27 countries voting in favor of the resolution include NATO and EU countries, as well as Argentina, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Paraguay.

The 55th session of the UNHRC is taking place in Geneva from February 26 to April 5. Russia is not a member of the council.