View from Hong Kong: US refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war, splitting with European allies at UN

UN votes highlight growing tensions between the US and its European partners over the Ukraine-Russia conflict, stresses ‘The South China Morning Post’.

In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under US President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three UN resolutions Monday seeking an end to the three-year war.

In the UN General Assembly, the US joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out “Moscow’s aggression” and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

The US 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. The voting was taking place as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington.

The US then pushed for a vote on its original draft in the more powerful UN 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 countries abstaining, all from Europe.

The duelling resolutions reflect the tensions that have emerged between the US and Ukraine after Trump suddenly opened negotiations with Russia in a bid to quickly resolve the conflict.

They also underscore the strain in the transatlantic alliance over the Trump administration’s engagement with Moscow.

In escalating rhetoric, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator”, accused Kyiv of starting the war and warned that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead.

Trump’s meeting with Macron will be followed by a visit on Thursday from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, key US allies who were in lockstep with Washington on Ukraine just over a month ago. They now find themselves on opposite sides on the best pathway for the UN to call for an end to the war.

In Monday’s first vote, the General Assembly approved the Ukrainian resolution 93-18 with 65 abstentions. The result showed some diminished support for Ukraine, because previous assembly votes saw more than 140 nations condemn Russia’s aggression and demand an immediate withdrawal.

US deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous UN 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”.

“What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all UN member states to bring a durable end to the war,” Shea said.

Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told reporters last week that the original US resolution was “a good move”.

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