Ukraine war: USA does not want to call Russia an aggressor in UN resolution

DER SPIEGEL Ukraine war: USA does not want to call Russia an aggressor in UN resolution 2 hours • 3 minutes reading time The USA is apparently taking a confrontational course with Europe in the UN General Assembly. Russia considers this a "good step". Meanwhile, Washington and Kyiv are moving closer together on a raw materials deal. For years, the USA supported Ukraine in its defense against the Russian war of aggression. But under President Donald Trump, the United States is moving ever closer to Moscow, including now at the United Nations: According to diplomats, the US government wants to introduce a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly that does not explicitly name Russia as an aggressor. This resolution is seen as a counter-draft to a text drafted by the EU and Ukraine. The paper, which is reported by the news agencies dpa and AP, among others, also does not call for Russian troops to withdraw from Ukrainian territory. The territorial integrity of Ukraine is not mentioned. US resolution as a turn towards Putin The US UN draft resolution calls for "a rapid end to the conflict" in Ukraine and regrets the loss of life in the war - which has cost many times more Ukrainian civilians than Russian civilians. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promoted the resolution. The US has introduced a "simple, historic resolution that we call on all member states to support in order to find a path to peace," said Rubio. He did not elaborate on the content of the resolution. The draft from Ukraine and the EU delegation to support Kyiv is to be put to a vote on Monday before the largest UN body. Western diplomats had already feared that the US would not support the original draft resolution, which would have diplomatically formalized Trump's verbal departure from Kyiv. A counter-draft would likely represent a further escalation. Diplomatic circles also see the move as an expression of Trump's fundamental shift towards Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, which is feared in Ukraine and western democracies. Russia's UN representative Vasily Nebenzya described the US government's surprising approach as a "good step". Western diplomats, however, expressed deep concern behind closed doors. According to dpa, the ambassadors of the EU member states were due to meet on the East River for an emergency meeting on Friday evening. Trump called Zelensky a "dictator" US President Trump had recently significantly toughened his rhetoric towards Ukraine and moved closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He called Zelensky a "dictator" because there had been no elections in Ukraine for some time - although this is also common practice in other countries in times of war. The Republican also said that he believes Kyiv is to blame for the war and initiated talks with Russia to end the war in the absence of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky has so far played the role of a Ukrainian Winston Churchill, confident of victory on the side of the West. Now Donald Trump is forcing him into a new role. Read more about this here. Meanwhile, Zelensky said he had agreed with leading European politicians on ways to achieve peace. In addition to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelensky's interlocutors included the heads of state and government of Sweden, Poland, Ireland and Croatia. "The most important conclusion is that Europe must and can do much more to ensure that peace is actually achieved," he said in his evening video address. "We have clear proposals with our partners in Europe, and on this basis we can ensure the implementation of the European strategy, and it is important that this happens together with America." How many soldiers do potential peacekeepers need? According to the government in Kyiv, up to 150,000 soldiers from abroad would be necessary for a possible peacekeeping contingent in Ukraine. According to a preliminary report, presidential advisor Mykhailo Podoliak referred to the 1300-kilometer-long front line and the presence of more than 600,000 Russian soldiers in the occupied Ukrainian territories in the "Welt am Sonntag". "A peacekeeping contingent cannot therefore be small," Podoliak told the paper. "It would have to consist of 100,000 to 150,000 soldiers, with the appropriate infrastructure and distribution of tasks." Negotiations on a raw materials deal between the USA and Ukraine With regard to a raw materials deal, the USA and Ukraine appear to be getting closer. Selenskyj announced on Friday evening that teams from both countries were working on a draft. US President Donald Trump is making aid for Ukraine dependent on access to its rare earth reserves.