The UN General Assembly approved a resolution calling for “international cooperation” and “multilateralism” in the fight against COVID-19, in the first text to come out of the international body since the outbreak began.

The resolution, approved by consensus, also stresses “the need for full respect for human rights” and that “there is no place for any form of discrimination, racism and xenophobia in the response to the pandemic”.

Russia was unsuccessful in opposing the resolution with its own text that was supported by four other countries.

The UN resolution emphasizes the central role of the body in the global health and economic crisis. It was submitted by Switzerland, Indonesia, Singapore, Norway, Liechtenstein and Ghana, and adopted by 188 of the 193 states that make up the body, diplomats said.

The Russian text - which also discussed cooperation but included an implicit demand for a general lifting of international sanctions, seen as a brake on efforts to fight the virus - was supported by the Central African Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.