The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday adopted a resolution drafted by the US which called for an end to the three-year protracted war without mentioning Russia's aggression, a fact that remained the pinnacle of the West in its view of the conflict.
The resolution received 10 votes in favour while five, including France and Britain, abstained. The US-drafted resolution omitting Russia's explicit mention comes in the wake of the efforts by President Donald Trump to broker peace in the conflict. Meanwhile, Trump has also hardened his stance on Ukraine as he called Zelenskyy "a dictator without elections."
On Monday, a UNGA resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine was brought. The world body approved the Europe-backed resolution. India, maintaining its long-term stance, abstained from the voting.
All in all, 65 members voted in favour of the resolution while 18 went against it. 65 member nations abstained from the voting. However, the biggest surprise came from the US which voted against the resolution. The vote in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion, was 93-18 with 65 abstentions. That's lower than previous resolutions, which saw over 140 nations condemn Russia's aggression and demand a reversal of its annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
Later, in another competing resolution of its own, the US abstained from voting after the Europeans, led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor. The same original draft was tabled in UNSC by the US and was passed. The three major events, two in UNGA and one in UNSC, on the third anniversary of the war, unveil the growing rift between Europe and the US regarding the war in Ukraine. While, the US suffered a setback in UNGA, it moved its original resolution to the more powerful UNSC and got it adopted.
(With inputs from AP)