U.S. in standoff with Ukraine and Europe over competing U.N. resolutions about Russia-Ukraine war

The United States is lobbying countries around the world to oppose a resolution brought forward at the U.N. General Assembly by Ukraine and European countries on the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine and support a U.S. draft resolution instead.

The brief U.S. resolution seen by NBC News is comprised of three sentences calling for a “swift end to the conflict” between Ukraine and Russia.

An internal memo sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts Saturday instructed the head of each U.S. mission to “engage host governments at the highest possible levels,” and urge them to support the U.S. resolution and encourage Ukraine to withdraw their own resolution, “which does not advance the United States’ goal of achieving a lasting peace.”

U.S. diplomats were also told to ask countries to vote against a proposed Russian amendment to the U.S. resolution, according to the diplomatic note seen by NBC News. The Russian amendment would add language saying that the “root causes” of the conflict should also be addressed. 

The memo was first reported by Reuters.

Ukraine’s draft resolution, which it put forward last week, demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces “from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders,” according to the latest copy obtained by NBC News. The U.S. does not support that demand and Trump administration officials have recently suggested that Ukraine would likely have to give up some territory as part of a peace deal. 

Ukraine’s resolution also refers to the ongoing hostilities as a “war,” a word that is omitted from the text of the U.S. resolution, and which Russia has stayed away from since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“President Trump is committed to ending the Russia-Ukraine war and to a resolution that leads to a lasting peace, not just a temporary pause,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in statement Friday. “The United States has proposed a simple, historic resolution in the United Nations that we urge all member states to support in order to chart a path to peace.”

The U.N. Security Council is slated to vote on the resolutions Monday afternoon at 3pm. A resolution requires the support of at least nine members of the council in order to be adopted and must not be vetoed by any of the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. or France, which are the sitting permanent members.