24 February 2025 , 22:00
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The United States has joined Russia, Israel, Belarus and North Korea in refusing to blame Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and the US produced rival resolutions at the UN General Assembly calling for an end to the conflict on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
Kyiv’s three-page resolution demanded Russia withdraw its forces from Ukraine immediately and for Moscow to be held accountable for war crimes.
The resolution was passed with 93 votes, with every EU country except Hungary voting in favour of the motion. 18 countries, including the US, Russia and North Korea rejected the deal, while 64 countries including China abstained on the vote.
The US rejected a UN proposal naming Russia as the aggressor in the war on Ukraine (Picture: AFP)
Following the vote, the US lodged their own counter-proposal, which called for an end to the three-year-long war while refusing to acknowledge Russia as the aggressor in the conflict.
But they were eventually forced to abstain on their own resolution after European countries amended the draft to include language condeming Russia and reiterating support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.
The amended U.S.-drafted resolution won 93 votes in favor, while 73 states abstained and eight voted no. Russia failed in a bid to amend the U.S. text to include a reference to the “root causes” of the conflict.
‘This war has never been about Ukraine only. It is about a fundamental right of any country to exist, to choose its own path and to live free from aggression,’ Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Betsa Mariana told the assembly before the vote.
Donald Trump joined Russia, North Korea and Belarus in rejecting the proposal
The drama comes just days after Donald Trump launched a scathing personal attack on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a ‘dictator’ and falsely claiming that Ukraine had started the war.
In escalating rhetoric, Trump warned Zelensky that he ‘better move fast’ to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead. Zelensky responded by saying Trump was living in a Russian-made ‘disinformation space.’
Trump later walked back some of his rhetoric and conceded that ‘Russia attacked, but they shouldn’t have let him attack,’ while continuing to call for Zelensky to step down.
‘The world wants peace. Ukraine wants peace,’ said Bob Rae, Canada’s Amabssador to the UN. ‘The question is: what kind of peace will it be? Will it be a peace based on justice and on the UN charter and on the principles for which we stand? Or will it be a peace that is a result of an imposition?’
The 15-member Security Council is also set to vote on the same US text later on Monday. A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the U.S., Russia, China, Britain or France to be adopted.
European members of the council are expected to propose a vote on the same amendments to the U.S. text that were put forward in the General Assembly.
A State Department official said the US was prepared to veto any proposed amendments.
Speaking with French president Emmanuel Macron following the vote, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin would accept European peacekeepers in Ukraine as part of a potential deal to end the war.
During a joint press conference in the Oval Office, Macron said Europe was prepared to deploy peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of its security guarantees following a ceasefire.
Trump said he did not see a problem with European troops being sent to Ukraine, and said he had raised the idea with Putin.
‘Yeah, he will accept it,’ said Trump.
‘I have asked him that question. Look, if we do this deal, he’s not looking for world war.
The US president said the Ukraine war could end ‘within weeks, if we’re smart’ and claimed things could escalate into a third world war if things continue, which ‘we don’t want either’, he added.
Macron said ahead of the meeting he intended to tell Trump it’s in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to show weakness to Putin during US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
He also suggested he’ll make the case that how Trump handles Putin could have enormous ramifications for U.S. dealings with China, the United States’ most significant economic and military competitor.
‘You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin. It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest,’ Macron said. ‘How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?’