The United States voted alongside Russia, North Korea and 15 other Moscow-aligned nations on Monday against a U.N. resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for the return of Ukrainian territory. The resolution, sponsored by Kyiv representatives, passed overwhelmingly in the U.N. General Assembly.

The U.S. delegation also abstained from voting on its own competing resolution, which simply called for an end to the war, after European-sponsored amendments adding anti-Russian language were approved by a wide margin in the 193-member body. The amended U.S. resolution also passed.

Deepening split

The votes, taken on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reflected the growing divide between the Trump administration and the United States’ major allies over support for Ukraine and Trump’s unilateral outreach to the Kremlin to settle the war on terms favorable to Russia.

Trump has blamed Ukraine for starting the war, called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” spoken directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin about normalizing Washington-Moscow relations and suggested that strong U.S. sanctions against Russia over Ukraine may be lifted.

Later on Monday, the United States avoided a similar failure after reintroducing its original resolution at a meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council. While General Assembly resolutions reflect world opinion but are nonbinding, Security Council votes – requiring nine members in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members (the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France) – carry the force of international law. The other 10 members, selected by region for two-year terms, have no veto. Ukraine is not currently on the council.

The Security Council meeting was more subdued than the morning session – where widespread applause greeted Ukraine’s victory – but was marked by underlying tension between the Europeans and the United States, while other members played subordinate roles. Speeches were uncharacteristically brief and direct.

France and Britain sought to delay the council meeting by a day, requesting a vote to allow more time to consider the U.S. resolution circulated on Friday. That request was denied with U.S. and Russian vetoes. It was time, U.S. Interim Ambassador Dorothy Camille Shea said, for the council “to now step forward and do its job.”

‘No costs’

Shea called the U.S. resolution – consisting of only a few lines calling for an end to the war without assigning blame to Russia – “elegant in its simplicity. … This resolution is not a peace deal, and it imposes no costs.”

The Europeans – France, Britain, Denmark and Slovenia – then proposed the same three amendments introduced in the General Assembly, replacing “the Russia-Ukraine conflict” with “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation,” reaffirming Ukraine’s right to all its territory and stressing the need for a “lasting” peace. Earlier in the day, the United States had said it would veto its own resolution if amended in the council, but Russia killed two of the European measures with a veto, sparing the U.S. from taking that step.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said he considered the U.S. resolution “a step in the right direction, a common-sense initiative which reflects the will of the new administration in the White House to really contribute to the peaceful settlement in the conflict.”

The final vote was a partial victory for Trump, passing with 10 votes while the Europeans abstained.

The two U.N. votes came as Trump met at the White House with French President Emmanuel Macron for bilateral talks and a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations. He also prepared for a Thursday visit from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Trump administration opposed certain wording in a G-7 statement on Ukraine that the bloc – comprising the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain and Japan – planned to issue this week. In a social media post after Monday’s virtual meeting, Trump referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor” Trudeau – a reference to his repeated call for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state – and reiterated his claim that the war in Ukraine “would have never started if I was president.”

‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal’

Trump also expressed hope for an agreement with Kyiv on what he called “the vital ‘Critical Minerals and Rare-Earths Deal,’” under which Ukraine would sign over 50% of its mineral wealth to “recoup” U.S. spending on Ukraine’s defense. He said he was “in serious discussions” with Putin about ending the war and exploring “major Economic Development transactions between the United States and Russia. Talks are proceeding very well!”

Asked by reporters ahead of his Oval Office meeting with Macron why the U.S. opposed Ukraine’s resolution condemning Russia, Trump responded, “I would rather not explain it now, but it’s sort of self-evident.”

At a later news conference, Macron sought to avoid antagonizing Trump while arguing that lasting peace required a firm stance against the Kremlin. “There is good reason for President Trump to reengage with President Putin,” he said, but “being strong and having deterrence capacities is the only way to be sure” a peace deal will be “respected” by Moscow.

Ukraine’s General Assembly resolution, co-sponsored by dozens of nations, was the seventh approved by that body – and the first not supported by the United States – since the war began.

“This is a moment of truth,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa told the assembly. “A historic moment not only for Ukraine” but also for Europe and “for the entire democratic world. The way we answer to Russian aggression today … to Russian atrocities and crimes … will define … our entire future.”

One simple idea

Shea, the U.S. representative, told the assembly that “multiple resolutions … have failed to stop the war.” Urging support for the unamended U.S. measure, she called it “a simple statement … that looks forward, not backward, focused on one simple idea of ending the war.”

Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador, repeated Putin’s claim that the war was a response to Western efforts to expand influence and territory at Russia’s expense and to Ukraine’s alleged human rights violations against its Russian-speaking minority.

Kyiv was informed in advance that the United States would vote against its resolution, and U.S. demands that Zelenskyy’s government withdraw the proposal continued until Monday morning. The Trump administration also pressured other nations – through messages sent by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to all U.S. embassies – to vote against the resolution or abstain.

“We told them we would not surrender,” a Ukrainian official said, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions. “This is a really unpleasant surprise, but it’s not for us to judge, it’s for the Americans themselves.” The official noted that Haiti was among the nations that sided with the U.S. against the resolution. “If Washington is treating Ukraine with such pressure,” the official said, “what will they do to Haiti?”

Asked in Brussels whether the Trump administration was acting in the interest of the “free world” or Russia, Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia and now the EU’s chief diplomat, paused and said, “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.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha thanked all nations that supported Ukraine. “Ukraine and the wider international community will also undoubtedly notice the company that ended up voting against this document,” he wrote on social media. “At the end of the day, despite all the obstacles … Ukrainian diplomacy has proven its ability to defend principles and truth.”