The US and Russia were among 18 nations that voted against a Ukrainian-drafted resolution at the UN General Assembly that condemned Moscow and called for a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion.
The resolution passed in a vote of 93-18, with 65 countries abstaining from voting. The US had been pressuring Ukraine to withdraw the resolution as the Trump administration is seeking better relations with Russia and an end to the proxy war.
The US introduced its own resolution that simply called for peace in Ukraine, but European countries were able to add an amendment that inserted anti-Russian language. After the amendment was added, the US abstained from voting, and the resolution passed in a vote of 93-8 with 73 abstentions.
In remarks to the UN, US Ambassador Dorothy Shea referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an “escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war” and said the conflict started “11 years ago,” referring to the war that broke out in Ukraine following the US-backed coup in 2014 that ousted former President Viktor Yanukovych.
The language from Shea marks a significant shift from the Biden administration, which always referred to the war as an “unprovoked” Russian invasion despite the history of US and NATO involvement in Ukraine.
Shea said that the many UN resolutions that have demanded a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine have failed to end the conflict. “Since the start of the war 11 years ago, the United Nations has repeatedly condemned Russia’s blatant violations of the UN Charter. Multiple resolutions of the General Assembly have demanded that Russia withdraw its forces from Ukraine,” she said.
“Those resolutions have failed to stop the war. 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,” Shea added.
Shea also called for an end to the war. “Generations of Ukrainians and Russians have died unnecessarily as the war has brought the world closer to a nuclear confrontation. The longer it continues, the greater the suffering for both nations. This war must end now,” she said.
