Washington and Brussels have proposed rival resolutions on the conflict for a General Assembly vote on Monday
The United States has urged the EU to withdraw a UN resolution on the Ukraine conflict, Financial Times reported on Monday, citing officials familiar with the discussions.
According to the report, US President Donald Trump’s administration and the European Union have put forward competing UN resolutions for a General Assembly session scheduled for Monday.
The EU’s draft, co-authored with Kiev, was introduced to mark the third anniversary of the conflict and places full blame on Russia – an interpretation Moscow strongly denies.
Washington, however, has proposed its own resolution, submitted on Friday, which calls for a swift end to the conflict, equates Ukraine’s actions with Russia’s, and mourns “the tragic loss of life” as a result of hostilities, according to one official.
Russia has proposed amending the US draft to reference addressing the “root causes” of the conflict, according to Reuters.
Votes on both the European and US resolutions are expected to follow the release of a G7 statement, issued during a virtual meeting of the group’s leaders earlier on Monday afternoon. The UN Security Council is also set to vote on the US resolution later in the day, according to FT sources.
“This [US] wording is obviously unacceptable to us,” one official briefed on the matter told FT, adding “It’s all linked together and part of the wider shift in position by the US.”
Last week, the US refused to agree to a G7 statement that referred to “Russian aggression” against Ukraine. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that stance over the weekend when asked by Fox News if it was “fair” to say that Russia had invaded Ukraine. “Fair to say it’s a very complicated situation,” Hegseth responded.
On Monday, Trump’s senior adviser Steve Witkoff told CNN the Ukraine conflict was “provoked” and that blaming Russia alone is misguided. He argued that Moscow was responding to a security threat created by the West’s promises to admit Ukraine into NATO.
Washington’s push for UN action comes after US President Donald Trump launched an effort to broker an end to hostilities between Moscow and Kiev.
Last week, Russian and US officials held their first high-level talks in three years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focusing on restoring diplomatic ties and addressing the Ukraine conflict. Ukrainian and EU leaders have since said that they felt sidelined by the White House and alarmed by Trump’s public criticism of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whom he labeled “a dictator.”
Trump has claimed that Zelensky is responsible for the conflict’s escalation and said that his presence at the Riyadh meeting was unnecessary.
