U.S. pressures Kyiv to replace U.N. resolution condemning Russia

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1. [Unpaywalled Link](https://archive.is/HTfZu)

   Submission Statement:

   On Friday the Trump administration requested that Ukraine withdraw a resolution it planned to table at the UN General Assembly on Monday, the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, condemning Russia and calling for it to withdraw its forces to within its internationally recognized borders.

   According to reports, the Trump administration intended to substitute a resolution of its own creation that removed language critical of Russian actions and demanding specific action.

   An official familiar with the draft told the Washington Post, “[The Trump administration’s] proposition is very short and totally new language. Many representatives of other nations say that this looks more like a call for appeasement with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin rather than a call for peace.”

   The Trump administration’s request was reportedly met with astonishment in Kiev, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructing his diplomats not to accede to the American request. The text of the Ukrainian resolution had already been greenlit by UN members prepared to co sponsor it.

   Given everything else that it has done, the Trump administration’s actions are quickly losing the power to shock. However, the rift that is quickly opening between the US and its erstwhile allies seems to grow deeper by the day, with the Trump administration appearing confident – or perhaps overconfident – in its ability to impose its will on events, while European leaders struggle to mount a coherent and unified response, in spite of having had years to prepare for such an eventuality.

   Whether Europe can get its act together remains to be seen, but strongly endorsing the Ukrainian resolution would be a good first step. Meanwhile the Trump administration’s “move fast and break things” philosophy of maximum disruption is likely to end badly, as it burns bridges and accumulates opponents without having any clear idea of what it is actually trying to achieve, or a consistent, well thought out plan for achieving it.

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