Donald Trump has signalled the United States could abandon war crime prosecutions against Russia for invading Ukraine.
The moves comes after the US proposed a draft United Nations resolution calling for ‘swift end’ to the war on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This pits Washington against an effort by Kyiv and European allies to have their own text adopted by the General Assembly.
President Trump has already found himself at loggerheads with European nations in recent days during his bid to broker an end to the war, with Trump leading a thaw in US-Russia relations for the first time since 2022.
Whilst a rift has started to grow between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Ukraine was sidelined from Tuesday’s peace talks in Riyadh and the president was referred to as a ‘dictator’ by Trump.
Washington could also leave an international effort to attempt to prosecute Vladimir Putin in a Nuremberg-style tribunal.
This follows US officials’ refusal to label Russia as an ‘aggressor’ at a meeting to discuss efforts to try to put Putin on trial.
In response an official at the International Criminal Court in The Hague told the Daily Telegraph that unless the US acknowledges Russian as the aggressor it can’t participate.
President Donald Trump has already found himself at loggerheads with European nations in recent days during his bid to broker an end to the war
Whilst a rift has started to grow between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after Ukraine was sidelined from Tuesday’s peace talks in Riyadh
Trump has led a thaw in relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia for the first time since the conflict began
An explosion erupts from an apartment building in Mariupol in March 2022
The US has similarly refused to co-sponsor a text drafted by Ukraine and EU which demands Moscow withdraws its troops from the war torn nation.
Meanwhile, the country has put forwards its own brief three-paragraph draft resolution that said it mourns the loss of life during the ‘Russia-Ukraine conflict’ and reiterates ‘that the principal purpose of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security and to peacefully settle disputes.’
It also ‘implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.’ It was not immediately clear when Washington hoped to put the draft resolution to a vote.
The UN’s General Assembly is already set to meet on Monday to vote on the text drafted by Ukraine and the EU, which calls for de-escalation.
EU ambassadors at the United Nations will meet later on Friday to discuss the U.S. move, diplomats said.
Ukraine and the EU have been negotiating with UN member states for the past month. General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war. No country holds a veto in the assembly.
The Ukrainian and EU text ‘reiterates the urgent need to end the war this year, and to redouble diplomatic efforts to reduce the risks of further escalation and achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.’
The language in that resolution appears slightly toned down from previous action by the General Assembly. It takes a less direct approach in its criticism of Russia by simply referencing ‘the aggression.’
Keir Starmer with Zelensky during a joint press conference in Kyiv in January
The US proposed a draft United Nations resolution calling for ‘swift end’ to the war on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine . A move that pits Washington against an effort by Kyiv and European allies to have their own text adopted by the General Assembly (pictured)
Trump says Zelensky ‘has done a terrible job’ and blames him for war
This compares to a resolution adopted shortly after the war began – with 141 votes in favor – that deplored ‘in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation.’
The Ukrainian and EU text does assert the need for the implementation of previous UN resolutions that demanded Russia withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, and insisted that Moscow halt hostilities.
In recent days, the US has dramatically changed its tone towards the war with Trump appearing to blame Ukraine for Russia’s invasion of the country three years ago, as he dismissed Zelensky’s anger at being cut out of peace talks and criticised him for not making a deal to end the war sooner.
‘You should never have started it,’ the US President said of Kyiv as he took aim at the Ukrainian President for raising concerns that his country had not been at the table in talks between Washington and Moscow on Tuesday.
‘I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. But today, I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years.
‘You should have ended it. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine,’ Trump told a news conference.
After the meeting between US and Russian officials in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump said he was ‘much more confident’ that a peace deal could be struck.
‘They were very good,’ he said. ‘Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.’
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French President Emmanuel Macron with Zelensky in Brussels in December 2024
A destroyed residential complex in Siversk, Donetsk
Rather than attempting to heal any bad blood between himself and Zelensky, Trump then launched a blistering attack on social media against the leader in which he branded him a ‘dictator’.
The choice of language sparked international outrage, with Sir Keir Starmer making a thinly veiled swipe when he told Zelensky during a phone call that he backed him as Ukraine’s ‘democratically elected’ leader.
In a further attack directed at European leaders, Trump lashed out at Sir Keir and France’s Emmanuel Macron during a rant in which he claimed the leaders hadn’t done anything to end the war.
‘They haven’t done anything. Macron is a friend of mine, and I’ve met with the prime minister, he’s a very nice guy but nobody’s done anything,’ he told Fox News.
The latest spat comes as the Prime Minister gets ready to meet the President in the Oval Office next week.
