A showdown over Ukraine between the United States and its longtime European allies played out in the United Nations on Monday, as the United States opposed an effort to condemn Russian aggression and call for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
The Trump administration, after seeking to tone down the language, voted against that resolution and introduced its own that simply called for an end to the conflict. Both measures passed, but in siding with Russia against most of its European allies, the United States made a sharp break with the past.
The face-off at the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, the third anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, was a remarkable public fissure between Western allies that have typically stood together when it comes to Russia and Europe’s security, demonstrating the sharp turn in U.S. foreign policy under President Trump.
The three-page resolution demanding Russian withdrawal, proposed by Ukraine, also called for a “comprehensive, lasting and just peace,” and for accountability for Russia’s war crimes. It said the invasion “has persisted for three years and continues to have devastating and long- lasting consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for other regions and global stability.”
The U.S. resolution was three short paragraphs. It did not mention Russia’s aggression or condemn the invasion. It mourned the loss of life on both sides and said that the United States “implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.”
The U.N. drama came just days after President Trump called Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president who has been lauded by many Western leaders, a “dictator” and falsely asserted that Ukraine had started the war.
Three western diplomats and a senior U.N. official said that the Trump administration had tried last week to persuade Ukraine to withdraw its resolution, and when that failed they attempted to negotiate with European allies on a text that the Trump administration would support.
But on Friday afternoon amid negotiations, the United States told its European allies that it planned instead to put forth a dueling resolution. European diplomats said they were furious that their longtime ally had abandoned the talks sided against them.
The Ukrainian resolution was adopted by a vote of 93 nations in favor to 18 against, with 65 abstaining. The Assembly broke out into applause.
Among the 18 countries that voted against Ukraine’s resolution were Russia, the United States, Israel, Hungary, Haiti, Nicaragua and Niger.
“This is a moment of truth, a historic moment,” said Mariana Betsa Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister. Addressing the General Assembly, she said the way it had voted in response to Russian aggression and war crimes would define the future of Ukraine and the free world.
Dorothy Camille Shea, the interim chargé d’Affaires representing the United States, asked member states to commit to ending the war immediately. She said that previous U.N. resolutions that condemned Russia and called for it to withdraw its forces from Ukraine had failed to alter the course of a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
“Those resolutions have failed to stop the war,” said Ms. Shea. “It has now dragged on for far too long, and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine, in Russia, and beyond.”
The U.S. resolution was adopted, with 83 votes in favor, 16 against and 61 abstentions. Russia voted no.
Richard Gowan, the U.N. director for the International Crisis Group, which researches and monitors armed conflicts, said the United Nations had not seen such a consequential split between the U.S. and Europe since the war in Iraq, and that the current division was more pointed because it involved the security of Europe.
“European diplomats are livid with how the U.S. has maneuvered against them,” said Mr. Gowan. “The E.U. and Ukraine tried to keep Washington in the loop while drafting their resolution. The way the U.S. swung in with its own texts very aggressively at the last moment has left the Europeans off-balance.”
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon on Ukraine and the U.S. is expected to put forth the same resolution for a vote. Two Council diplomats said there were efforts underway to delay the vote and allow more negotiations. A closed-door Council session was added to the schedule on Monday morning.
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