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U.S. Wins Backing for U.N. Resolution on Ukraine War That Doesn’t Blame Russia

On third anniversary of invasion, Trump says he is talking to Moscow about economic development deal as Washington’s posture in region shifts

The U.S. sided with Russia and China to win the United Nations Security Council’s backing for a resolution crafted in Washington that didn’t blame Moscow for the Ukraine war and called for a swift end to the conflict, as President Trump said he was in talks with Russia about an economic-development deal.

Trump’s comments and the U.S.’s vote at the U.N. on Monday illustrated the extent to which the president has changed the U.S.’s posture toward the region, coming on the same day as European leaders gathered in Kyiv to mark the third anniversary of the invasion. 

Earlier on Monday, the General Assembly, which represents the 193 U.N. member states, had approved a Ukrainian resolution pinning the blame on Russia for the war, despite U.S. efforts to kill it. The U.S. was joined by North Korea, Russia and Belarus in voting against it. 

Unlike the General Assembly, the 15-member U.N. Security Council has decision-making powers. The U.S. secured 10 votes from the Security Council in favor of its resolution. Five European countries abstained, including the U.K. and France, underscoring the widening gulf between Europe and the U.S. over the Ukraine conflict.

France and Britain both have veto powers on the Security Council but were reluctant to use them against Washington, diplomats said. French President Emmanuel Macron met with Trump at the White House on Monday, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet with Trump in Washington later this week.

The Biden administration took pride in leading Western powers in an allianceagainst Russian President Vladimir Putin, marshaling a far-reaching effort to punish Moscow through economic sanctions. Then-President Joe Biden emerged as a leading critic of Putin on the world stage and framed the conflict as one of democracy versus autocracy.  

But Trump has positioned himself as a dealmaker willing to negotiate directly with Russia’s leader to end the war, and he suggested on Monday that he is willing to revive economic relations with Russia, potentially unraveling the Biden administration’s efforts. He has also stressed that American taxpayers will benefit from his negotiations via access to mineral deposits.

 

 

In an interview with Fox News, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested a truce between Ukraine and Russia could come in weeks, supported by a French and U.K. peacekeeping force. Photo: Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier

Following the meeting at the White House on Monday with Macron, Trump said that his administration is “making a decisive break” with Biden’s approach and is on the verge of inking an agreement with Ukraine that would provide the U.S. with access to that country’s natural resources. Key to the deal, Trump said, is that U.S. taxpayers can “recoup” some of the billions spent defending the Eastern European nation.

Macron, standing next to Trump at a news conference in the East Room of the White House, emphasized that any accord to end the war should include an expansive security guarantee for Ukraine and that he envisions peacekeepers on the ground to enforce it. He also suggested that Trump had agreed that the U.S. would play some unspecified role in supporting a peacekeeping mission.

“Europeans are ready to engage to provide for these security guarantees—and now there’s a clear American message that the U.S., as an ally, is ready to provide that solidarity for that approach,” Macron said. “That’s a turning point, in my view, and that is one of the great areas of progress that we’ve made during this trip.”

A White House official said Monday evening that the agreement Trump is seeking won’t include a guarantee to Ukraine for future aid for war or any commitment to send U.S. personnel in the region.

Washington had spent the last few days trying to press Ukraine to drop its U.N. resolution, saying the key was to focus now on building peace efforts. Kyiv refused, and its version won strong backing from the General Assembly. 

The U.S. ended up abstaining on its own competing resolution after the brief three-paragraph text, which focuses purely on calls to end the conflict, was amended by the Europeans to clearly support Ukraine.

The U.S. refused to accept any amendments to its resolution at the Security Council later Monday.

Trump declined to answer a reporter’s question about why the U.S. didn’t endorse the resolution that blamed Russia for the war. “I would rather not explain it now, but it’s sort of self-evident, I would think,” he said in the Oval Office on Monday.

Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah) criticized the U.S. position at the U.N., “which put us on the same side as Russia and North Korea. These are not our friends. This posture is a dramatic shift from American ideals of freedom and democracy,” Curtis said on X. “We all want an end to the war, but it must be achieved on terms that ensure Ukraine’s sovereignty and security and that deter Putin from pursuing further territorial ambitions.”

 

Members vote at the United Nations Security Council on Monday.
Members vote at the United Nations Security Council on Monday. PHOTO: SARAH YENESEL/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK 

 

A host of Western leaders gathered in Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. A total of 14 delegations gathered in Ukraine’s capital, including leaders of the European Union, and presidents and prime ministers of Western countries. Dozens of leaders of North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Group of Seven countries also participated in a plenary session by video.

Amid the anniversary commemoration events, Trump wrote on social media that he is in “serious discussions” with Putin about “major Economic Development transactions which will take place between the United States and Russia.” 

Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, said the economic discussions with Russia were in their early stages. “They have very valuable things that we could use, and we have things that they could use,” he said. But he acknowledged that it might not “come to fruition.” 

Russia, like Ukraine, has large deposits of rare-earth elements. Trump suggested that a deal with Russia could be similar to one that he was trying to craft with Ukraine in which he wants the U.S. to have access to that country’s natural resources.

Trump said the U.S. is “getting very close” to striking a minerals deal with Ukraine. He said he hoped to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyat the White House in the coming weeks to sign the deal. The country is rich in deposits that are essential for everything from cellphones to the defense industry.

Zelensky has said the administration should offer a better deal on mineral rights, saying the current U.S. offer demanded ruinous financial contributions from Ukraine.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron met with President Trump in the Oval Office on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron met with President Trump in the Oval Office on Monday. PHOTO: JIM WATSON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES


A deal giving the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral deposits could provide a new incentive for the Trump administration to help the country. “I call it an economic security guarantee,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on Fox News. He added that more investment through U.S. companies in Ukraine means that the U.S. will have more interest in Ukraine’s future.

Macron, during a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, also touched on “guarantees,” saying they would be needed as part of any peace agreement, an apparent reference to European troops serving as peacekeepers in Ukraine if an agreement halting the war is reached. 

Trump said he had asked Putin about the idea for European troops to serve as peacekeepers, and Putin had agreed.

Macron, who was at the White House for talks with Trump and his advisers on Ukraine, described Russia as the “aggressor” in Ukraine, a contrast with Trump advisers, who have avoided blaming Moscow for starting the three-year-old war.

An agreement to halt the fighting could be reached within weeks, Trump said. 

Earlier, in a videoconference with G-7 leaders including Trump, Zelensky said that “for our people, for life overall it’s incredibly important that American help and support remain.” It was the first public statement Zelensky has made to the U.S. president since tensions erupted between the two leaders over the potential deal to exchange Ukraine’s minerals for U.S. aid. 

Zelensky said his team was “productively working with the United States on the economic agreement that we hope to sign in Washington.”

Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com

Author: Laurence Norman, Annie Linskey and Jane Lytvynenko

Source: WSJ:

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