Updated February 24, 2025 at 17:20 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS — In a win for Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion, the U.N. General Assembly on Monday adopted two resolutions calling for an end to the war, while rejecting a U.S. draft that never mentioned Moscow's aggression. Instead, both resolutions make clear Russia was the aggressor.
The United States, reflecting the extraordinary turnaround under President Donald Trump, joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution. The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own resolution after Europeans succeeded in amending it.
It was a setback for the Trump administration in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
The assembly first approved the Ukrainian resolution, which demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and calls Moscow's aggression a violation of the U.N. Charter.
The vote was 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.
The assembly then considered the U.S.-drafted resolution, which acknowledges "the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict" and "implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia," but never mentions Moscow's aggression.
In a surprise move, France proposed three amendments, backed by more than European countries, which add that the conflict was the result of a "full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation." The amendments reaffirm the assembly's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and call for peace that respects the U.N. Charter.
Russia also proposed an amendment calling for "root causes" of the conflict to be addressed.
All the amendments were approved and the resolution passed 93-8 with 73 abstentions, with Ukraine voting "yes," the U.S. abstaining, and Russia voting "no."
The U.N. Security Council later approved the original U.S.-sponsored resolution. The vote in the 15-member council was 10-0 with five countries abstaining.
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa said her country is exercising its "inherent right to self-defense" following Russia's invasion, which violates the U.N. Charter's requirement that countries respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations.
"As we mark three years of this devastation — Russia's full invasion against Ukraine — we call on all nations to stand firm and to take … the side of the Charter, the side of humanity and the side of just and lasting peace, peace through strength," she said. Trump has often stated his commitment to bringing "peace through strength."
U.S. deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous U.N. 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 U.N. member states to bring a durable end to the war," Shea said.
The dueling resolutions reflect the tensions that have emerged between the U.S. 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. European leaders were dismayed that they and Ukraine were left out of preliminary talks last week, and the assembly met as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington..
In escalating rhetoric, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "dictator," falsely 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. Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump was living in a Russian-made "disinformation space."
The Trump administration then not only declined to endorse Ukraine's U.N. resolution, but at the last minute proposed its own competing resolution.
The U.S. wanted the vote in the more powerful U.N. Security Council, where resolutions are legally binding and it has veto power along with Russia, China, Britain and France.
The General Assembly has become the most important U.N. body on Ukraine because the 15-member Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, has been paralyzed by Russia's veto power.
Since Russia forces stormed across the border on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Assembly has approved half a dozen resolutions that have condemned the invasion and demanded the immediate pullout of Russian troops.
Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told reporters last week that the original U.S. resolution was "a good move."
The Ukrainian resolution adopted Monday recalls the need to implement all previous assembly resolutions "adopted in response to the aggression against Ukraine." It singles out the assembly's demand that Russia "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders."
The resolution reaffirms the assembly's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and also "that no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as legal."
It calls for "a de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine" and it reiterates "the urgent need to end the war this year."
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