UN assembly condemns Russia’s Ukraine invasion despite US opposition

The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine co-sponsored by Kyiv and EU nations, despite the US voting against it and urging other states to do so.

The resolution passed with 93 votes in favour. The US and Russia were two of 18 votes against. China, one of Moscow’s closest allies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, abstained, alongside 64 other countries.

The extraordinary move by the US comes as President Donald Trump’s rapid shift on the war in Ukraine threatens to tear apart decades of western unity.

The US had urged countries to vote against as it has its own resolution that calls for peace in the three-year-long war and does not condemn Russia’s invasion or its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.

Trump has pushed for a rapid peace deal through bilateral talks with Moscow that bypassed Europe and Kyiv, spooking European capitals who fear a schism in an 80-year transatlantic relationship that has underpinned the continent’s security.

The UN Security Council, in which the US and four other permanent members have veto rights, is likely to vote on the issue later in the day.

The General Assembly vote, which came shortly after G7 leaders failed to agree on a joint statement condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine on the third anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, has exposed the widening gulf between the US and Europe in the early months of Trump’s second term.

In a further diplomatic setback to the Trump administration on Monday, its own resolution tabled in opposition to the Ukrainian text, backing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, was only passed after it was amended to include a reference to Russia’s invasion.

The US ultimately abstained in the final vote on its own resolution.

Both resolutions passed with 93 votes in favour, with many major US aid recipients, such as Egypt, defying Washington’s pressure to vote in support of Ukraine.