Trump asks Ukraine to withdraw UN resolution condemning Russian invasion - WP
US President Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
The Trump administration has asked Ukraine to withdraw its annual UN resolution condemning the war waged by Russia. The US wants to replace the document with a softened US statement, which Kyiv perceived as close to pro-Russian, The Washington Post reports.
According to the WP's sources (an official and three European diplomats), Washington's proposal stunned Kyiv, which refused to withdraw its resolution, which is to be published on Monday, February 24, the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian side was informed of the new proposal on Friday.
Thus, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement that day saying that Washington "has proposed a simple, historic resolution in the United Nations" that they call on all UN member states to support "to chart a path to peace."
"Through support of this resolution, we affirm that this conflict is awful, that the UN can help end it, and that peace is possible. We strongly believe that this is the moment to commit to ending the war," the statement said.
One of the officials (WP's sources) said that Washington reviewed the resolution proposed by Ukraine and "demanded to make some changes to make it weaker," including "pro-Russian" language in the document. The United States then proposed a new resolution, demanding that Kyiv withdraw its version, which had already been agreed upon with other partner countries that were planning to sign it.
The official said that the new proposal "shocked" the Ukrainian side, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to withdraw the current resolution.
"Their proposition is very short and totally new language. Many representatives of other nations say that this looks more like a call for appeasement with Putin rather than a call for peace," the source told WP.
The newspaper goes on to say that the US President Donald Trump's administration's appeal to Kyiv suggests that the United States is trying to "bypass all possible procedures at the UN" by demanding that Ukraine voluntarily withdraw its text to pave the way for other countries to sign Washington's softer text.
"We have a lot of signs of possible bad things but it is shocking that they’re making pressure on [Ukraine - ed.] but not on Russians," the official added.
Yesterday morning, Voice of America wrote that the U.S. has not yet decided whether to support the UN resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported that Republicans have introduced a bill to withdraw the United States from the UN. It is known that lawmakers want to present the document in the US House of Representatives.
