On Monday, Feb. 24, the UN General Assembly passed two resolutions on the conflict in Ukraine: one submitted by Ukraine and backed by the EU, which denounces Russia, and the amended version of another, much simpler one submitted by the U.S. The Security Council voted to approve the U.S. resolution.
Leading into the vote, pro-war politicians were furious at the United States: "If we] look at the messages that come from the United States, then it is clear that the Russian narrative is, there, very strongly represented," said the EU’s chief diplomat Kaja Kallas, [according to the Financial Times.
Two sources told that newspaper that the U.S. called for the EU-Ukraine General Assembly resolution to be entirely withdrawn.
The Ukraine-EU resolution passed, with 93 votes in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstentions. The United States, Hungary, and Israel were among those nations voting against it. The resolution calls for impossible goals, speaking of “its demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
The U.S. resolution, just three paragraphs long, simply “implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.” It was adopted by a vote of 93 to 8, with 73 abstentions. Among those abstentions was the U.S. itself, due to amendments from European countries; they labeled Russia the aggressor and demanded a return to “Ukraine’s prewar international borders.” Russia voted against the resolution, as did the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States.
Following the General Assembly votes, the Security Council met to deliberate on the U.S. resolution. This time, the attempts to amend the resolution were unsuccessful. Five attempts were made: three from EU countries and two from Russia. The U.S. resolution passed in a vote of 10 in favor and 5 abstentions (Denmark, France, Greece, Slovenia and United Kingdom).
