Some 17 African countries abstained from the vote at the UN General Assembly to deplore the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
They included South Africa, Algeria, Uganda, Burundi, Senegal, South Sudan, Mali and Mozambique.
Others were Sudan, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa Republic, Madagascar, Tanzania and Congo.
Eritrea was the only African country that voted against the resolution.
Uganda said it abstained from the vote to uphold “neutrality” as the incoming chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam).
Nam is a forum made up of 120 developing countries to assert their independence from the competing claims of the two superpowers.
In a tweet, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, said the country will “continue to play a constructive role in the maintenance of peace and security both regionally and globally”.