UN voting record · Middle East
How Syria votes at the UN
Syria votes with the Arab and Islamic mainstream. In 2025 it agreed with China on 96% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), Russia on 90% and the United States on 10%. After Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024, Syria stopped voting no on the Ukraine and human rights resolutions, and in December 2025 voted yes on the resolution on human rights in Syria for the first time.
- 96%
With ChinaIn 2024: 87% - 90%
With RussiaIn 2024: 81% - 77%
With United KingdomIn 2024: 39% - 10%
With the USIn 2024: 20%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which Syria and each country voted the same way, 2025.
How did Syria's votes change after Assad fell?
Under Bashar al-Assad, Syria voted no on every Ukraine resolution and on the resolutions on human rights in Syria and Iran. Assad fell in December 2024. Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the offensive that toppled him, was named transitional president in January 2025. Syria abstained on the February 2025 Ukraine texts. It did not vote on texts about Iran, Nazism, nuclear weapons or the Cuba embargo. In 2025 Syria ranked 75th of 190 for agreement with the United States, up from 188th in 2024. Agreement with the United Kingdom rose to 77%, the highest since 1991. It is still 4th closest to Russia.
Syria did not vote on 99 of 192 recorded votes in 2025 and has given no public reason. When Russia, Iran or Cuba voted one way and Western states the other, Syria often did not vote. President Ahmed al-Sharaa told the Assembly in September 2025 that "balanced diplomacy" was one of three pillars of his policy. Syria restored diplomatic relations with Ukraine in September 2025. Al-Sharaa visited Russia in October 2025 and January 2026. In August 2026 Syria said it had reached a deal with Russia on the future of the Russian bases at Hmeimim and Tartus. The United States voted no on 174 of 192 recorded votes in 2025, so most members' agreement with it fell.
How does the UN vote on human rights in Syria?
Syria voted no on the yearly resolution on human rights in Syria through 2023 and did not vote in December 2024, after Bashar al-Assad fell. On December 18, 2025 Syria voted yes for the first time. In the Third Committee in November 2025, Syria backed the text and asked all states to adopt it without a vote. Russia called a vote. In the Assembly on December 18, the resolution passed by 114 votes to 2, with 47 abstentions. Russia and Nicaragua voted no. China, which had voted no in earlier years, abstained. The text, led by the United States and Qatar, welcomed "the end in December 2024 of the Assad regime."
Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi, appointed in August 2025, told state news agency SANA that the text was "the first of its kind after the fall of the deposed regime." The resolution voices concern over violence since January 2025 in coastal Syria and in Suwayda and southern Syria in July 2025. It calls on the government to investigate "the events of March 2025" and hold those responsible to account. About 1,400 people, most of them civilians and many of them Alawites, were killed on the coast in March 2025, according to Syria's own fact-finding committee. A UN commission of inquiry found in August 2025 that members of interim government forces, allied militias and pro-Assad fighters committed acts that likely amount to war crimes but found no evidence of a government policy to carry out the attacks.
- Dec 2019Human rights in Syria, 2019106 yes, 15 no, 57 abstainedNo
- Dec 2022Human rights in Syria, 202292 yes, 14 no, 71 abstainedNo
- Dec 2023Human rights in Syria, 202388 yes, 16 no, 73 abstainedNo
- Dec 2024Human rights in Syria, December 202490 yes, 12 no, 75 abstainedDidn't vote
- Dec 2025Human rights in Syria, December 2025114 yes, 2 no, 47 abstainedYes
Why does the UN vote on the Golan Heights every year?
Israel took the Golan Heights from Syria in the June 1967 war. On December 14, 1981 it passed a law applying Israeli law there, which Syria calls annexation. The Security Council, including the United States, unanimously called the step "null and void" in resolution 497. The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty in March 2019. Each year the Assembly votes on a resolution called "The Syrian Golan." On December 8, 2024, when Assad fell, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the 1974 disengagement agreement had collapsed because Syrian troops had left their positions. The agreement had set up a UN-patrolled buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces. He ordered troops into the buffer zone as what he called a "temporary defensive position." UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the move violated the 1974 agreement. The 2025 resolution passed 123-7-41, up from 97-8-64 in 2024.
Syria says the Golan is Syrian land under international law. Its ambassador Ibrahim Olabi told the Assembly: "Our country has every right to regain this land fully... This is a firm law that cannot be subject to compromise or pressure." Israel says it will not withdraw. Its ambassador Danny Danon posted on X: "Israel will not return to the 1967 lines and will not abandon the Golan. Not now, not ever." The United States has mediated Israel-Syria security talks since 2025. There was no agreement as of October 1, 2026.
- Dec 2019"The Syrian Golan," 201991 yes, 9 no, 65 abstainedYes
- Dec 2024"The Syrian Golan," 202497 yes, 8 no, 64 abstainedYes
- Dec 2025"The Syrian Golan," 2025123 yes, 7 no, 41 abstainedYes
Which countries vote most like Syria?
Compare with any country →In 2025 Syria agreed on 99% of votes with ten countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan. Its least alike countries are the United States, Israel, Argentina, Nauru and Paraguay.
Guinea-Bissau99%
Iraq99%
Comoros99%
Kuwait99%
Mauritania99%
Oman99%
10 countries at 99%
- United States10%
Israel19%
Argentina28%
Nauru41%
Paraguay62%
How did Syria vote on the big votes?
| Vote | Syria | United States | Russia | China | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | Abstained | No | No | Abstained | Adopted 93–18 |
| Russia's invasion of UkraineMarch 2, 2022 | No | Yes | No | Abstained | Adopted 141–5 |
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| The New York Declaration on two statesSeptember 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 142–10 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Didn't vote | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does Syria sit?
In 2025 Syria sits on the left of the strip among Arab states, close to Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Turkey