In a shock foreign policy turn, the United States has voted with Russia on two crucial United Nations resolutions, the third anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine. The remarkable turnaround points out the increasing gap in US and European policies under the administration of President Donald Trump.
The first was at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), where the US and Russia voted against a European-proposed resolution denouncing Moscow’s actions and reaffirming the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The resolution did pass, however, with 93 votes in support, indicating mass international condemnation of Russia’s incursion. Importantly, the US did not abstain but voted against the resolution, joining Russia and several other nations including North Korea and Belarus.
Subsequently, the US and Russia both cosponsored a US-penned resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a stop to the conflict without censuring Russia’s actions outright. The resolution was adopted on a vote of 10 yes, though key US allies, the UK, France, Denmark, and Greece, abstained after their efforts to try to modify the language were blocked by the US.
This style split was particularly seen when French President Emmanuel Macron came to the White House, meeting Trump in a bid to fill the widening transatlantic rift in the conflict in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will also have a meeting with Trump, showing even more strain in the US-European relationship.
The US support for Russia in the UN, especially on the Security Council, has been cause for concern regarding America’s engagement in European security and the long-term viability of NATO. The US resolution, as acting US envoy Dorothy Camille Shea indicated, was aimed at “ending the war” without blaming Russia, a policy that has elicited strong rebukes from European diplomats and Ukrainian officials.
Though the UNGA resolutions are not binding, they are representative of international opinion against Russian aggression. The Security Council resolutions are more influential but are frequently stalled because of Russia’s veto status. The US-European rift portends a new era in the current geopolitical confrontation.
