China has abstained from a UN Security Council Resolution invalidating the impending election results in Crimea in an attempt by that region to secede from Ukraine and annex itself to Russia. Russia, of course, vetoed the resolution. However, the other 13 members of the UN Security Council voted for the resolution.
In its state-run press, China talked about the obligation to protect all minorities, including Russian minorities. However, it also said that the territorial integrity of Ukraine must be respected. This veto will serve to further isolate Putin in his attempts to wrest Crimea and possibly other parts of the east from Ukraine as his price for that country joining NATO.
Other members of the UN Security Council include Argentina, Australia, Chile, Chad, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nigeria, South Korea, and Rwanda. Throughout this conflict, Russia has claimed to be merely acting in accordance with international law. However, this vote undermines the legitimacy of Putin's actions. Russia has historically played the "Big Brother" role in protecting ethnic Russians as well as the Serbs; its attempt to protect Serbia from Austro-Hungarian aggression following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was one of many factors which sparked World War I.
Putin's actions have also triggered massive instability in Russian markets recently. This means that his actions could be calculated to be political; there was simmering unrest in Czarist Russia prior to World War I and the outbreak of the war temporarily brought a halt to the unrest. However, given the turmoil in the Russian markets and the peace march today in which 50,000 were present, it could be that this move is backfiring on him.