The United States voted against a United Nations resolution laying blame on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and demanding Moscow remove its troops from Ukrainian territory, as the Trump administration is chasing a peace deal between both sides.
Russia and North Korea joined the U.S. in voting against the Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution, which cleared the General Assembly by 93-18 with 65 abstentions.
The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans, led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor. That resolution passed 93-8 with 73 abstentions, with Ukraine voting “yes,” the U.S. abstaining, and Russia voting “no.”
The voting unfolded on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington.
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The U.S. then pushed for a vote on its original draft in the more powerful U.N. 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.
President Donald Trump on Monday teased a possible meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
He also said “a lot of progress has been made” toward ending the war after Macron joined him at the White House for a call with Group of Seven (G7) leaders.
“President Macron is a very special man in my book,” Trump told reporters while sitting next to the French president. “We were together. We did it together. And I think a lot of progress has been made. We’ve had some very good talks with Russia. We’ve had some very good talks with others and we’re trying to get the war ended with Russia and Ukraine.”
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The U.S.-drafted resolution presented to the U.N. on Monday acknowledged “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 mentioned Moscow’s aggression.
In a surprise move, France proposed three amendments, which added that the conflict was the result of a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.” The amendments reaffirmed the assembly’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and call for peace that respects the U.N. Charter.
Both assembly resolutions were supported by U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, its neighbors Canada and Mexico and European countries, with the exception of Hungary.
U.S. deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea said Monday that multiple previous U.N. 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.”
In the Security Council, Russia used its veto to prevent European amendments to the U.S. resolution.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the U.S. resolution is “a step in the right direction, a common-sense initiative which reflects the will of the new administration in the White House to really contribute to the peaceful settlement in the conflict,” according to the Washington Post.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Alec Schemmel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
