US votes with Russia on Ukraine at the UN
Washington marked the third anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion by voting against Ukraine’s UN resolution.
Today, as the rest of Kyiv’s allies put out statements to reiterate their support for Ukrainian sovereignty, the US marked the third anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion by voting against Ukraine’s UN resolution demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from its borders and calling Russia the “aggressor”.
Some 93 UN states voted in favour, including the UK and most European nations while China and Iran abstained. A vote against the resolution put the US in the company of 18 other nations, including Russia, North Korea, Belarus, Hungary and Israel.
It is an extraordinary moment. The US has just voted with Putin and Russia, against its old allies such as Britain, France and Germany.
Meanwhile, from the Ukrainian capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed: “We hope that we can finish this war this year, not in three,” but with the usual caveat: the war cannot end, he insisted, until Kyiv has security guarantees to prevent Moscow from ever returning.
This sombre anniversary falls at a highly fraught moment for Ukrainians, and all of Kyiv’s European allies. Suggestions by the Trump administration over the past week that it could revoke the security guarantees to Europe in place since the end of the Second World War has shaken the continent to its core.
To top off a terrifying week for Ukraine, on Sunday, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine of the three-year war so far.
Today, speaking from the Ukrainian capital, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, declared: "It is not only the destiny of Ukraine at stake, it is Europe's destiny at stake," as she announced an extra 3.5 bn euros in aid, on top of the 135 bn euros in existing EU support for Ukraine.
Keir Starmer, who spoke to leaders present in Kyiv via video-link, insisted: "Russia does not hold all the cards in this war". A pointed message from the British PM, after Trump, in a highly questionable negotiating tactic, claimed last week that Russia “has the cards” when it comes to peace talks because of the territory it has seized.
Starmer decided to contradict him, insisting today that Russians “have lost the best of their land forces and their Black Sea Fleet in this pointless invasion".
At the same time, we do have a tentative sign today that Kyiv’s biggest donor might not be preparing to throw Ukraine under a bus after all. And that a transactional Trump could still be incentivised to offer Ukraine security guarantees.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister confirmed this morning that Kyiv and Washington are in the “final stages of negotiations” on a minerals deal.
Details of the latest draft of the deal – now in its third iteration – are not currently known. But, last week, Zelensky rejected a US proposal - which demanded $500 billion of Ukraine’s mineral wealth and oil and gas revenues - on the grounds that, despite this steep demand as payment for past US aid, there was no mention of security guarantees against Russia. That the Ukrainians are sounding positive about this latest draft suggests that they may now have secured guarantees.
Trump confirmed this evening that he expects Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky to come to Washington "this week or next week" to sign the minerals agreement with the US.
Signs of progress on this deal might be considered a relief, though it is bizarre that Ukraine is being asked to trade its resources for some form of protection.
The transatlantic alliance has been, perhaps irreparably, damaged. And leaders across Europe have woken up to the fact that they can no longer rely on America to guarantee their security.
When it comes to the seismic shift underway, the words of the man now destined to be Germany’s new chancellor are particularly striking.
Trump’s administration is “largely indifferent to the fate of Europe”, said the victorious CDU leader Friedrich Merz, a mainstream conservative who is known to be a passionate Atlanticist.
Insisting his “absolute priority” will be “to establish an independent European defence capability much more quickly”, he even questioned whether NATO would still exist “in its current form” by the time of the alliance’s scheduled June summit.
Merz’s steadfast support for Ukraine is another convenient reason for the CDU to stand firm in its refusal to form a coalition with the AfD, despite the hard-right’s party historic gains. The AfD has campaigned for Berlin to disengage from Kyiv and to re-establish relations with Russia.
Now, however, when it comes to strengthening European defence capability, Merz, along with other European leaders, will have to put words into action.
Caitlin Allen
Deputy Editor
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