The US was refusing to co-sponsor a draft UN resolution marking three years since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that backs Kyiv’s territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops, three diplomatic sources told Reuters, in a potential stark shift by Ukraine’s most powerful Western ally.
The Kremlin offered US President Donald Trump support in his standoff with Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing the Ukrainian president of making “inadmissible” remarks about world leaders as a Russian official said he was stunned by how fast the US stance had shifted.
US Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday defended Trump’s negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying it could help bring about the end of the Ukraine war.
US refuses to co-sponsor UN motion backing Ukraine ahead of war anniversary
The US was refusing to co-sponsor a draft UN resolution marking three years since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that backs Kyiv’s territorial integrity and again demands Russia withdraw its troops, three diplomatic sources told Reuters, in a potential stark shift by Ukraine’s most powerful Western ally.
Countries can decide to co-sponsor a resolution up until a vote. The 193-member General Assembly is due to vote on Monday, said diplomats. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.
“In previous years, the United States has consistently co-sponsored such resolutions in support of a just peace in Ukraine,” said one of the sources on Thursday, who like the others requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The first diplomatic source told Reuters that the resolution was being sponsored by more than 50 countries, declining to identify them.
A second diplomatic source, who also requested anonymity, said: “For now, the situation is they [the US] won’t sign it.” Efforts were ongoing to seek support from other countries instead, including the Global South, added the source.
A spokesperson for the US diplomatic mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UN vote comes amid a widening rift between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, who is trying to rapidly end the war in Ukraine and whose team has held talks with Russia without the involvement of Kyiv.
The row is a major political crisis for Ukraine, which has used tens of billions of dollars of US military aid agreed under the previous US administration to weather Russia’s invasion and also benefited from diplomatic support.
The draft UN resolution, seen by Reuters, “calls for a de-escalation, an early cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine ... in line with the UN Charter and international law”.
It also “recalls the need for full implementation of its relevant resolutions adopted in response to the aggression against Ukraine, in particular its demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”.
Russia has seized some 20% of Ukraine and is slowly but steadily gaining territory in the east. Moscow said its “special military operation” responded to an existential threat posed by Kyiv’s pursuit of Nato membership. Ukraine and the West call Russia’s action an imperialist land grab.
Kremlin offers Trump support in Zelensky spat
The Kremlin offered Trump support in his standoff with Zelensky, accusing the Ukrainian president of making “inadmissible” remarks about world leaders as a Russian official said he was stunned by how fast the US stance had shifted.
Trump’s return to the presidency has begun to warm moribund US-Russia ties, which fell to their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis under Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
By contrast, Kyiv’s ties with Washington, crucial to its battlefield defence against Russia, have begun to fracture under Trump with tensions around a potential US deal to exploit Ukraine’s natural resources and over a US decision to hold two-way talks with Russia about Ukraine without Kyiv.
Zelensky on Wednesday accused Trump of living in a “disinformation bubble” after Trump called him “a dictator” and dismissed as false a claim by Trump that his popularity rating was just 4%.
The Kremlin weighed in on Trump’s side on Thursday.
“The rhetoric of Zelensky and many representatives of the Kyiv regime leaves much to be desired. The fact that Zelensky’s rating is falling is an absolutely obvious trend,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said he didn’t want to get into details on numbers though when it came to discussing Zelensky’s popularity, which opinion polls in Ukraine show is above 50%.
“Often representatives of the Ukrainian regime, especially in recent months, allow themselves to say absolutely unacceptable things about heads of other states,” said Peskov, without providing examples.
“We see that there are certain differences between Washington and Kyiv,” he added, accusing Ukraine of spending foreign taxpayers’ money in an uncontrolled way and baulking at attempts to hold it to account for funds spent in the past.
That criticism, which Ukraine has repeatedly denied when it has come from US politicians, is part of a pattern which has seen Russian politicians from President Vladimir Putin on down sometimes offering support for Trump administration talking points.
Trump’s swift move to repair ties with Moscow, his equally fast falling out with Kyiv and Vice-President JD Vance’s sharp criticism of Europe at the Munich Security Conference have left traditional US allies stunned and scrambling to forge a common response. Britain has said it would be willing to send troops to support Ukraine, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez plans to visit Kyiv on Monday to show his country’s support for Zelensky and Ukrainian democracy.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said he was stunned at how quickly Trump’s stance on Ukraine had evolved.
“‘A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.’ If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud,” Medvedev wrote on X in English.
“Trump is 200 percent right,” said Medvedev.
With a possible Putin-Trump meeting on the agenda, US-Russia talks on Ukraine in the pipeline, and a souring of ties between Kyiv and Washington, there are cautious hopes in Moscow that it may be possible to end the war on many of its own terms.
Zelensky has long been seen by the Russian leadership as a potential obstacle to getting an agreement on ending the war because he has been so vociferous in his opposition to Moscow and is seen as unbending when it comes to his terms for a potential settlement.
Putin, and now Trump, have suggested Zelensky must hold an election to renew his mandate given that an election due last year was not held because of martial law. Zelensky has said that it’s not the right moment to hold an election.
JD Vance defends Trump negotiations with Russia on Ukraine
US Vice-President JD Vance on Thursday defended Trump’s negotiations with Putin, saying it could help bring about the end of the Ukraine war.
“How are you going to end the war unless you’re talking to Russia?” said Vance during remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
A US delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with a Russian delegation on Tuesday to discuss how to end the Ukraine war. Ukraine was not included, prompting complaints from Zelensky.
In the days since, Trump and Zelensky have traded insults. Trump called his Ukrainian counterpart a dictator and falsely suggested Ukraine started the war. Zelensky said Trump was repeating Russian disinformation.
Vance steered clear of the specifics of the controversy as he spoke at the large gathering of conservatives meeting on the outskirts of Washington. He called Trump “an effective negotiator” who “doesn’t take anything off the table”.
As a result of Trump’s stepped-up efforts on the Ukraine war, “I really believe we’re on the cusp of peace in Europe for the first time in three years,” said Vance.
Vance said Trump, who has demanded Nato allies pay more for the common defence, wanted strong alliances with Europe “but I really do think the strength of those alliances is going to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction”.
US envoy meets Zelensky after Trump slams Ukraine
Trump’s envoy for the conflict in Ukraine met Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday but there was no immediate word on whether their talks had helped smooth over an unprecedented wartime rift between the once firm allies.
Trump’s Ukraine and Russia envoy Keith Kellogg said on arriving in Kyiv on Wednesday that he was there to listen.
The two men shook hands and patted each other on the backs as they met on Thursday. Zelensky smiled and said: “It’s good to see you, how are you? Thank you for coming.”
There was no immediate word from either side on the outcome of the talks.
Trump is seeking to reestablish ties with Russia and also invest in Ukraine’s resources of minerals critical to the energy transition. Ukraine rejected an initial US plan as it did not include security guarantees.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Thursday that Ukraine should rein in its criticism of the US and agree to the minerals deal.
“They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal,” he told Fox News.
UK’s Lammy sees no Russian appetite for peace with Ukraine
British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Thursday he saw no appetite from Russia for peace with Ukraine after listening to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov talk at a closed-door meeting of the top G20 diplomats in South Africa.
Lammy was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the world’s biggest economies, which has been overshadowed by disputes between members over the Ukraine war, among other disagreements.
“We have not got anywhere near a negotiated settlement,” he said, responding to a question about whether Britain would under any circumstances support deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine in the absence of security guarantees from the US.
“And I have to say, when I listen to what the Russians and what Lavrov has just said in the chamber this afternoon, I don’t see an appetite to really get to that peace,” he said.
“This is a critical moment, it’s essential for Europe to increase … defence spending to step up our commitment to our own defences across Europe,” said Lammy, reiterating a British target of spending 2.5% of GDP on it, and a pledge of aid to Ukraine.
“We’re committed to giving Ukraine three billion [pounds] a year for as long as it lasts,” he said.
Ukraine ready for accord with US on security, investments - Zelensky
Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine was ready to work quickly and tirelessly to produce a strong and useful agreement on investments and security with the US.
“We must and can ensure that peace is strong and lasting — so that Russia can never return with war,” wrote Zelensky on X after meeting US envoy Kellogg.
“Ukraine is ready for a strong, effective investment and security agreement with the President of the United States. We have proposed the fastest and most constructive way to achieve results. Our team is ready to work 24/7.”
Putin’s negotiators will play hardball in talks with US, says ex-Russian diplomat
Negotiators sent by Putin to broker an end to the Ukraine war were likely to play hardball in future negotiations with their US counterparts whom they perceived as weak, said a former Russian diplomat.
Putin sent two of his most seasoned representatives — Foreign Minister Lavrov and foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov — to talks between Moscow and Washington in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
The two men’s experience — a combined 34 years — dwarfs that of their US counterparts, who are in their first month on the job.
Boris Bondarev, a former diplomat who spent 20 years in the Russian Foreign Ministry before he quit over the war, said Putin’s negotiators would approach any future talks from a position of strength.
“Sometimes they [the Russians] could think it better to appease the Americans, to flatter them,” said Bondarev.
“The next day they might think maybe now it’s time to threaten them, to blackmail, to be rude, to be very uncompromising.”
Bondarev was serving as a counsellor at Russia’s permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva when he resigned in May 2022 in protest over Russia’s invasion.
German presidential frontrunner ‘targeted by pro-Russian disinformation’
A network of more than 700 fake social media accounts has sprung up in the last week of Germany’s election campaign, say researchers, promoting pro-Russian narratives and demonising conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz.
The bot network, dubbed “Geist” by researchers working with Germany’s Robert Bosch Foundation, carries anti-conservative, anti-war messages with AI-generated pictures of Merz.
Merz, a backer of Ukraine in its war with Russia, leads ahead of Sunday’s vote but has lost ground to the second-placed Alternative for Germany (AfD), which opposes arming Ukraine and wants to restore Germany’s energy ties to Russia.
“These and similar disinformation campaigns are known to the Information Security Office,” said the German cybersecurity watchdog BSI about the campaign.
The identity of the people behind the posts on social media network X was unclear, but most of the accounts were created in December and made bland, apolitical posts before switching to anti-Merz messaging a week ago, said the researchers.
Most have AI-generated profiles and background pictures, illustrating their posts with AI pictures of Merz.
Some posts portray Germany as being stuck in a spiral of economic decline that can only be halted if it starts buying Russian gas again.
Other posts portray Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, as controlled by the US and link him to mass immigration under previous conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Poland’s Tusk urges stronger defences along EU borders with Russia
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on Thursday for enhanced air policing, stronger Baltic defences and reinforced European Union borders with Russia, citing growing security concerns.
“Enough talking, it’s time to act!” said Tusk on X, urging the swift adoption of new fiscal rules to fund improved European defence efforts and calling for the EU to finance aid for Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.
French President Emmanuel Macron hosted two meetings with European leaders earlier this week to discuss how to move faster to increase defence spending, and how to move more quickly as Trump’s administration speeds up diplomacy to end the three-year-old Ukraine-Russia war.
Following the meeting with EU leaders in Paris on Monday, Tusk said defence spending would not be considered under the EU’s excessive deficit procedure.
“We must act now,” warned Tusk on X. DM