The US coordinated the scandalous UN resolution with the Russians

It has now become known that American diplomats coordinated the text of this resolution with the Russians, and they did so behind the backs of their European allies.

The publication cites the entire history of the West's helplessness in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine — starting in 2014, when US President Barack Obama advised the newly formed revolutionary government in Kyiv not to resist the Russians in Crimea, because no one was going to help the Ukrainians with weapons.

After briefly criticizing Joe Biden for his constant fear of escalation, which held the US back from providing more aid in 2022-24, Le Monde turns to the events of recent months, when Donald Trump took over the White House.

Trump has thrown Europe into the face of its impotence. He promised to resolve the Ukrainian conflict in 24 hours, and the way he did it has stunned Europeans: he sided with Russia, which he refused to call the aggressor; he accused Ukraine of starting the war; and he called Zelensky a dictator.

One element of this new Washington policy was the scandalous resolution at the UN. Initially, it was planned that Ukraine would submit its resolution by the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, for which Europeans, Americans, and most of the world would vote.

But a few days before the vote, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires at the UN Dorothy Shay told French Ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Riviere and his British counterpart Barbara Woodward that the U.S. was asking Ukraine to withdraw its draft resolution because it wanted to submit its own. And Washington expected Europe to support the American resolution.

De Riviere noted that the Ukrainians would not withdraw their resolution and asked what was so special about the American version.

"Peace, not war," the US representative replied.

However, British and French sources have now confirmed to Le Monde that the joke was prophetic: as it turned out, the American draft resolution was indeed previously discussed with the Russians — behind the Europeans' backs.

Ultimately, both resolutions — the Ukrainian and the American — were voted on at the UN.

Moreover, the Americans did not vote for any of them, since the French managed to include a clause in the American document on respect for the territorial integrity of UN member states. In this form, the resolution became unacceptable not only for the United States, but also for Russia, North Korea, and Israel. Ukraine did not vote for it either.