United Nations, Feb 25 On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the General Assembly supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine and demanded an immediate ceasefire in a resolution on which India joined the US in abstaining.
The resolution carried on Tuesday with 107 votes, including those of Washington’s allies, showed a split among the Western countries in their approach to ending the war.
There were 12 votes against it, and 51 countries abstained.
The unusual US abstention was driven by its optimism that a peace deal was near and that two paragraphs in the resolution would interfere with its diplomatic efforts.
US President Donald Trump has reportedly asked Ukraine to give up some territory in a peace deal, which Kyiv has rejected.
The US demanded that the draft resolution drop paragraphs on the Assembly reaffirming its “strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, and calling for a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace” conforming to international law and the UN Charter.
When Washington’s proposal for the deletion was defeated 11 to 69 – with India among the 62 abstaining – the US abstained on the resolution for ending the war.
In an unusual spectacle, Russia joined the US to vote for the excision, while Washington’s allies voted against it.
US Deputy Permanent Representative Tammy Bruce said Washington opposed the two references because they were “likely to distract from ongoing negotiations, rather than support discussion of the full range of diplomatic avenues that may pave the way to that durable peace”.
“We believe we are closer to a deal than at any point since this war began”, she said.
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative Anna Evstigneeva concurred.
“Today, when a genuine window of opportunity has opened up for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, it is diplomacy that we must talk about first and foremost, not proclamations”, she said.
Bruce, however, clarified, “The United States welcomes, of course, the call for an immediate ceasefire”.
France’s Permanent Representative Jerome Bonnafont said supporting the US demand “would mean that the UNGA would be voting against the principles of the Charter”.
Washington’s allies expressed strong opposition to the US's defeat of the US demand to cut parts of the resolution.
The resolution, however, welcomed the efforts of the US, along with the European Union to end the war.
Fully taking aim at Moscow, the resolution expressed concern that “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has persisted for four years and continues to have devastating and long-lasting consequences for Ukraine and for regional and global stability”.
US President Donald Trump had said during his campaign that he would end the Ukraine War in 24 hours of taking office, but that claim has eluded him.
He is, however, continuing efforts to bring Moscow and Kyiv together to find an end to the war, and US-sponsored talks took place last week in Geneva.
Bruce said, “Our dedicated negotiators have a keen sense of the realities on the ground as they continue to work with the parties to forge an agreement on the outstanding issues in the most expeditious manner possible”.
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