WP: U.S. pressures Ukraine to withdraw UN resolution condemning Russia
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump asked Ukraine to withdraw its annual United Nations resolution condemning Russian aggression, seeking to replace it with a softened version, The Washington Post reported, citing one official and three European diplomats familiar with the matter.
According to the sources, the American version of the document was perceived in Kyiv as leaning toward a pro-Russian stance.
The proposal shocked Kyiv. Ukraine refused to withdraw its resolution, which is set to be published ahead of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian officials were informed of the new proposal on Friday, February 21, the sources said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement the day before, saying Washington "has proposed a simple, historic resolution in the United Nations that we urge all member states to support in order to chart a path to peace."
"Through support of this resolution, we affirm that this conflict is awful, that the UN can help end it, and that peace is possible. We strongly believe that this is the moment to commit to ending the war," the statement read.
That resolution was seen in Kyiv as an attempt to limit any acknowledgment of Russia's responsibility for the invasion, especially since the request came after Trump falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war.
One of WP's sources said Washington reviewed Ukraine's proposed resolution and "demanded to make some changes to make it weaker," including "pro-Russian" language. The United States then introduced a new resolution and asked Kyiv to withdraw its version, which had already been coordinated with partner countries that planned to sign it.
The source said the new proposal "shocked" Ukrainian officials, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine not to withdraw the existing resolution.
"Their 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 source told WP.
Washington's request to Kyiv suggested the United States is trying to "bypass all possible procedures in the U.N." by pressuring Ukraine to voluntarily withdraw its text, clearing the way for other countries to sign the softer U.S. version.
"We have a lot of signs of possible bad things but it is shocking that they're making pressure on [Ukraine] but not on Russians," the official said.