US votes with Russia on UN resolution amid Ukraine conflict

• The United States voted with Russia and others on a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine.
• The US abstained on a separate resolution calling for a negotiated end to the war.
• A UN expert noted the divide as the biggest split among Western powers at the world body since the Iraq war.

The United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus and 14 other Moscow-friendly countries on Monday on a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine and calling for its occupied territory to be returned that passed overwhelmingly in the UN General Assembly.

after European-sponsored amendments inserting new anti-Russian language also passed the 193-member body by a wide margin.

The votes were a clear sign of opposition by major US allies and countries throughout the Global South who were prepared to buck heavy diplomatic pressure from the US administration to support President Donald Trump’s efforts to quickly end the war through direct negotiations with Moscow.

A State Department official said the United States would introduce its resolution at a meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council on Monday and would veto any amendments.

“While our partners at the Security Council and in the General Assembly would like to debate the entire situation now, we are much more focused on just getting the parties to the table so that whatever the next step is can be undertaken,” the official said

Richard Gowan, a UN expert at the International Crisis Group, said the divide between the United States and Europe marked “the biggest split among Western powers at the UN since the Iraq war – and probably even more fundamental”.