On the three year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States voted against a resolution condemning the invasion at the United Nations.
The United States joined Russia, North Korea and 15 other member-states in opposing the resolution, which passed with 93 yes votes and 65 abstentions.
The vote marks a 180-degree shift in U.S. foreign policy. Under the Biden administration, the United States was a leader in opposition to Russia’s invasion and suppled Ukraine with arms to defend themselves.
The United States also voted against a UN Security Council motion calling Russia an aggressor. This comes as President Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and falsely claimed Ukraine started the war, now entering its third year.
American allies in Europe supporting the measure overwhelmingly and some diplomats were furious that the United States sided with Russia.
The vote sparked bipartisan backlash from American lawmakers.
Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina spoke on the Senate floor and called Russian President Vladimir Putin, “a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has previously called Putin “bloodthirsty”, “a butcher”, and “a monster” now appears to be reversing his previous statements.
U.S. Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said, “the fastest way to stop the war in Ukraine is for Russia to stop the invasion.”
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, another Republican, noted Ukraine had a free and fair election in 2019, where Zelenskyy won with 73% of the vote. He noted, “Russia has never held such elections.”
Fitzpatrick noted he and many of his colleagues in Congress are ready to, “do whatever it takes to prevent Communist Dictator Vladimir Putin from being rewarded for his illegal invasion, raping, kidnapping, torturing and murdering of the Ukrainian people, including so many women and children,” and will do so, “regardless of the personal or political consequences.”
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in “The Washington Post”, “the Ukrainians are not just fighting for their sovereignty-they are on the front lines defending democracy and U.S. support remains critical.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would have a, “low chance to survive” without support from the United States. The Trump administration is working to negotiate a deal between the two nations.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth refused to name Russia as the aggressor in the war and suggested Ukraine should abandon the idea that they will get all their territory back from Russia.
The shift in U.S. foreign policy doesn’t just reverse the Biden administration’s anti-Russia stance. The United States has long fought for democracy in Europe, from defeating the Nazi’s in World War II, to destroying the Soviet Union, America has for most of its history, stood against the aggressor.
Now, the United States has taken the unprecedented step of abandoning North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and supporting Vladimir Putin in his quest to expand Russia’s borders into Europe and NATO territory.
If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, and moves to invade a NATO country, the United States would be forced by NATO Article 5 to send American troops to battle Russia, likely leading to a third World War between NATO’s 32 member-states and an empowered Russia.
