U.S. urges Ukraine to withdraw draft UN resolution condemning Russia’s aggression

The Washington Post reports, citing anonymous sources.

According to one source, Washington initially reviewed Ukraine's proposed resolution and "demanded some changes to make it weaker." Later, the U.S. presented its own resolution draft and urged Kyiv to withdraw its version, which had already been coordinated with other partner countries.

One of the Washington Post's sources said the proposal "shocked" the Ukrainians, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to withdraw the current resolution.

"Their proposal is very brief and contains completely new wording. Many representatives of other countries say it resembles more a call for appeasement with Putin than a call for peace," said one Ukrainian official.

He said that “it is shocking that they’re putting pressure on [Ukraine] but not on Russians.”

It is worth noting that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, February 21, issued a statement saying that Washington "proposed a simple, historic resolution at the United Nations" and urged member countries to support it.

"By supporting this resolution, we affirm that this conflict is horrific, that the UN can help end it, and that peace is possible. We firmly believe that the time has come to commit to ending the war," the statement said.

• The Financial Times wrote on February 20 that the U.S. opposed mentioning Russia as an aggressor in the G7 statement marking the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.