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The US and Europe are battling in the UN and G7 over whether to blame Russia for its war against Ukraine, as President Donald Trump’s rapid shift on the conflict threatens to tear apart western unity.
The Trump administration and the EU have proposed rival UN resolutions at the Security Council and General Assembly on Monday, while G7 diplomats spent the weekend haggling over whether a joint statement due to be released by the group of rich nations would refer to Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine or not.
Officials said that, without a last-minute compromise, the US could side with Russia and China to prevent a western European-backed show of support for Kyiv.
“If [we] look at the messages that come from the United States, then it is clear that the Russian narrative is, there, very strongly represented,” EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters on Monday when asked if she believed the Trump administration was acting in Russia’s interests.
Trump’s push for a rapid end to the war, his opening of bilateral peace talks with Russia and his escalating war of words with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have torn up three years of united western condemnations of Moscow’s invasion in February 2022 and the brutal war that followed.
In a move to commemorate the war’s third anniversary, Ukraine and the EU have co-authored a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion, which is set for a vote by the general assembly’s 193 members on Monday afternoon.
The US has called for that resolution to be withdrawn, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. Washington has instead proposed its own text, which equates Ukraine’s actions with Russia’s and mourns “the tragic loss of life across the Russian Federation-Ukraine conflict”, according to one of the people.
“This [US] wording is obviously unacceptable to us,” said the official. “It’s all linked together and part of the wider shift in position by the US.”
France, backed by European allies, has proposed an amendment to the US resolution that refers to “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” and “the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.
If that amendment is not accepted, the majority of European countries would not vote in favour of the resolution, the officials warned, while acknowledging some could split from the EU position to back the US.
Two of the officials added that European members will again propose the amendment when the Security Council meets later on in the afternoon — but said its inclusion could be vetoed by Russia and China.
France and the UK — which are both permanent members of the 15-member council — could then have to decide between using their own vetoes to block the US resolution and abstaining and letting it go through.
The G7 is also holding a virtual meeting between leaders on Ukraine scheduled to begin at 8am eastern time on Monday.
A person briefed on the negotiations said there had been an “agreement in principle” on a compromise G7 text on the issue, but that Trump subsequently decided it should be dependent on the UN resolutions.
The US last week refused to agree to a G7 statement that referred to “Russian aggression” against Ukraine. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that position at the weekend.
“Fair to say it’s a very complicated situation,” he told Fox News Sunday when asked if it was “fair” to say that Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Kremlin said it “welcomed and supported” the US “reformatting” of its approach to Russia.
“We can indeed see Washington is attempting to work out what the initial reason for this conflict was, and we hope this analysis will help efforts to settle the conflict,” Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, told reporters on Monday, according to the Interfax news agency.
The White House is also pushing for a deal with Ukraine to develop its natural resources and critical minerals, arguing the plan would fuel postwar growth in the country and did not involve any coercive economic pressure.
Deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna said on Monday that Kyiv and Washington were in the “final stage” of what has been intense, week-long negotiations during which Ukraine has tried to get the US side to include future security guarantees.
But the latest draft proposal dated February 24 and viewed by the FT still did not include the obligation of future US security assistance for Kyiv.
The diplomatic efforts to avoid further public rifts between the US and its European allies come as French President Emmanuel Macron is due to meet Trump in the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a European leader since the US president’s election.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is also scheduled to see Trump on Thursday and London is keen to avoid stoking a fight with the US president beforehand. Starmer has praised Trump for having “changed the global conversation” on Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Berlin and George Parker in London
