Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Donald Trump has been condemned after the United States sided with the world’s worst autocratic regimes Russia, North Korea and Belarus at the UN in refusing to blame Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine.
Washington, alongside the three dictatorships, rejected a UN General Assembly resolution calling on Russian forces to withdraw from the war-torn country.
The move by the new White House administration has been met with horror by leading figures on the international stage and political grandees.
Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, who was in the UK government which stood up with the US to Saddam Hussain’s invasion of Kuwait, said Trump had sided with a “new axis”.
He said: “Those of us who admire America will find this axis of the US with China, Russia and North Korea in a UN vote inexplicable.
“We have relied on American support which enabled us to defeat the fascists in the 1940s and saw the rehabilitation of democracy in post war Atlantic alliance and it has now thrown an incentive not to peacekeepers but to those who threaten the stability of the modern world.”
The motion, which was drafted by Ukraine and other European countries, passed with 93 votes in favour on Monday. Eighteen countries voted against it and 64 countries, including China, abstained.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been sanctioned by China for supporting those who stand up for democracy, added: “It was a sad day for us all.
“The ‘leader of the free world’ siding with totalitarian states guilty of murder, slave labour, war and genocide. The great presidents of the past will be turning in their graves.”
Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told The Independent: “Disgraceful but all part of Trump’s tactics to endear himself to Putin and increase the prospects of getting Putin to agree a deal.”
However, he added: “It is encouraging that Trump is now inviting Zelensky to the White House. All part of his shambles style and unpredictability. He might just pull it off. But only someone with Trump’s crazy temperament could/would use such chaotic methods. We live in interesting times!”
The US urged other countries to vote against it and proposed a separate resolution which called for an end to the three-year-long war but did not single out Moscow for any responsibility in the conflict.
It was a three-paragraph resolution that called for a “swift end to the conflict and a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.”
In her speech on foreign policy, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch struck a more conciliatory note.
Responding to questions, she said: “America’s an ally. I have been very clear that I disagreed with president Trump when he said President Zelensky was a dictator. I wouldn’t be afraid to say so.”
She added: “The US is not an authoritarian regime. What we see the US doing is acting in its national interests. We disagree on the voting of that resolution.”
Washington was eventually forced to abstain on this resolution after European countries amended the draft to include language condemning Russia and reiterating support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.
It also passed with the amendments with 93 votes in favour, while 73 states abstained and eight voted against. The US abstained alongside China and Hungary. Russia voted against it.
The UN Security Council later approved the original US-sponsored resolution. The vote in the 15-member council was 10-0 with five countries abstaining.
Last week, US president Donald Trump blamed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war and called him a “dictator”.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelensky better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left,” Mr Trump said on TruthSocial.
He later admitted Mr Putin had invaded Ukraine but said the US and Kyiv should not have allowed him to do it, repeating his claim the war never would have started if he was US president in 2022.
On Monday, Mr Trump again refused to call Mr Putin a dictator. Mr Trump said he did “not use those words lightly” when asked the question at the White House alongside French president Emmanuel Macron.
“I don’t use those words lightly. We are going to see how it all works out. We will see what happens,” Mr Trump said.
Read More: US criticised as it joins North Korea, Belarus and China in refusing to condemn Putin
