The US is refusing to co-sponsor a draft UN resolution marking three years since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that backs Ukraine’s territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops, three diplomatic sources told Reuters, in a potential stark shift by Ukraine’s most powerful Western ally.
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Washington has also objected to a phrase in a statement the Group of Seven major industrialised nations (G7) was planning to issue next week that would condemn Russian aggression, two other sources told Reuters.
The United States’ refusal to agree to language that has been regularly used by the UN and G7 since February 2022 comes amid a widening rift between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.
Trump is trying to rapidly end the war in Ukraine and sent a team to hold talks with Russia this week in Saudi Arabia without the involvement of Kyiv.
Ukraine’s allies have used the previous two February 24 anniversaries of the war to reiterate their condemnation of Russia’s invasion but this year it is unclear how the United States will approach it.
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At the UN countries can decide to co-sponsor a resolution up until a vote. The 193-member General Assembly is expected to vote on Monday, diplomats said. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.
“In previous years, the United States has consistently co-sponsored such resolutions in support of a just peace in Ukraine,” one of the sources, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said on Thursday.