UN Shenangians: US avoids blaming Russia for Ukraine war, splits with EU

In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its war with Ukraine in votes on three UN resolutions seeking an end to the three-year war.

In the UN General Assembly, the US joined Russia on Monday in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow’s aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

The US then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans, led by France, succeeded in amending it to insist that Russia was the aggressor.

The US then pushed for a vote on its original draft in the more powerful UN Security Council, where resolutions are legally binding and it has veto power along with Russia, China, Britain and France. The vote in the 15-member council was 10-0 with five European countries abstaining – Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia.

The dueling resolutions also reflect the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine.

In escalating rhetoric, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator" for not holding elections during wartime, when much of Ukraine is under Russian occupation, its soldiers are on the frontlines and the country is under martial law.

Trump has accused Kiev of starting the war and warned that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead. Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space.”

In a whirlwind of diplomacy, Trump’s meeting with French President Macron in Washington DC on the same day of voting will be followed by a visit on Thursday from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, key US allies who were in lockstep with Washington on Ukraine just over a month ago. They now find themselves on opposite sides on the best pathway for the UN to call for an end to the war.

The General Assembly voted 93-18 with 65 abstentions to approve the Ukrainian resolution. The result showed some diminished support for Ukraine, because previous assembly votes saw more than 140 nations condemn Russia’s aggression and demand an immediate withdrawal.

The assembly then turned to the US-drafted resolution, which acknowledges “the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict” and “implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia,” but never mentions Moscow’s aggression, which has long been the discourse of the previous US administration and the EU.

'Root causes'

In a surprise move, France proposed three amendments, which add that the conflict was the result of a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.” The amendments reaffirm the assembly’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and call for peace that respects the UN Charter.

Russia proposed an amendment calling for “root causes” of the conflict to be addressed.

All the amendments were approved and the resolution passed 93-8 with 73 abstentions, with Ukraine voting “yes,” the US abstaining, and Russia voting “no.”

Both assembly resolutions were supported by US allies in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, its neighbors Canada and Mexico and European countries, with the exception of Hungary.

US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea said multiple previous UN resolutions condemning Russia and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops “have failed to stop the war,” which “has now dragged on for far too long and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine and Russia and beyond.”

“What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all U.N. member states to bring a durable end to the war,” Shea said before the vote.

In the Security Council, Russia used its veto to prevent European amendments to the US resolution, which is legally binding but essentially toothless. Its only operative paragraph “Implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.”

Shea called it “a first step, but a crucial one,” saying it “puts us on the path to peace.”