Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “easy, historic” decision. File.
| Picture Credit score: AP
The USA proposed Friday (February 1, 2025) a United Nations decision on the Ukraine battle that omitted any point out of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources instructed AFP.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN members to approve the “easy, historic” decision.
Washington’s proposal comes amid an intensifying feud between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky which has seen Trump declare it was “not essential” for his Ukrainian counterpart to be concerned in peace talks.
It additionally appeared to rival a separate draft decision produced by Kyiv and its European allies, international locations that Trump has additionally sought to sideline from talks on the way forward for the three-year-old struggle.
The Ukrainian-European textual content stresses the necessity to redouble diplomatic efforts to finish the struggle this yr, noting a number of initiatives to that finish, whereas additionally blaming Russia for the invasion and committing to Kyiv’s “territorial integrity.”
The textual content additionally repeats the UN Normal Meeting’s earlier calls for for a right away and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
These votes had broad help, with round 140 of the 193 member states voting in favor.
Washington’s textual content, seen by AFP, requires a “swift finish to the battle” with out mentioning Kyiv’s territorial integrity, and was welcomed by Moscow’s ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia as “a very good transfer” — however careworn that it didn’t deal with the “roots” of the battle.
“The USA has proposed a easy, historic decision within the United Nations that we urge all member states to help with a purpose to chart a path to peace,” Rubio mentioned in an announcement Friday, with out commenting intimately on the contents of the proposed decision.
In a break with previous resolutions proposed and supported by Washington, the newest draft, produced forward of a Normal Meeting assembly Monday to coincide with the third anniversary of the struggle, doesn’t criticize Moscow.
As an alternative the 65-word textual content begins by “mourning the tragic lack of life all through the Russia-Ukraine battle.”
It then continued by “reiterating” that the United Nation’s function is the upkeep of “worldwide peace and safety” — with out singling out Moscow because the supply of the battle.
France’s ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Riviere, the EU’s solely everlasting member of the council, mentioned he had no remark “for the second.”
“A stripped-down textual content of this sort that doesn’t condemn Russian aggression or explicitly reference Ukraine’s territorial integrity seems to be like a betrayal of Kyiv and a jab on the EU, but additionally a present of disdain for core rules of worldwide legislation,” mentioned Richard Gowan of the Worldwide Disaster Group.
“I believe even a whole lot of states that favor an early finish to the struggle will fear that the US is ignoring core components of the UN Constitution.”
Printed – February 22, 2025 10:33 pm IST
