At the UN General Assembly, 51 countries came together to condemn Russia and call for Black Sea passage.

Omissions

• The joint statement was issued 'ahead of the High-Level UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine' on 23 September 2026 during UNGA high-level week (Italian MFA press release); it was a statement by a group of member states at the UN, not a UN General Assembly resolution or a vote of the General Assembly.
• Some accounts describe the signatories as '50 countries and the European Union', suggesting the EU may be counted within or alongside the 51 states; the exact composition of the 51 is therefore slightly ambiguous.
• Sources documenting the statement were published in September 2026, i.e. shortly before the 20 October 2026 session, so the MEP could have known them; the EEAS statement reproducing the sentence is the speaker's own communication and was not treated as independent evidence of the figure.

Sources

• PrimaryItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Farnesina) press release"Joint Statement ahead of the High-Level UN Security Council Briefing on Ukraine. Publication date: September 23 2026" / "We therefore support efforts towards an arrangement in the Black Sea to safeguard freedom of navigation and call for the protection of..."
• PrimaryEEAS — Statement by the HR/VP on the escalation of Russian strikes (speaker's own communication, used only to document the wording of the claim)"At the UN General Assembly, 51 countries came together to condemn Russia and call for Black Sea passage."
• SecondaryKyiv Independent"Fifty-one countries have backed Ukraine in a joint statement condemning Russia and calling for Black Sea passage as the U.N. Security Council..." and "All 51 countries called on Russia to respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and be held accountable."
• SecondaryKyiv Post"51 Countries Issue Joint UN Statement Urging Russia to..." / "The joint statement called for detainees and deported civilians, including children, to be returned and backed freedom of navigation in the..."
• SecondaryEU Neighbours East"EU, Ukraine, and 51 countries call on Russia to stop its aggression" / "The statement supports efforts towards an arrangement in the Black Sea to safeguard freedom of navigation and calls for the protection of..."