UNITED NATIONS: The United States urged UN members to back its “simple, historic” resolution on the Ukraine war, which diplomatic sources said omits mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia.

Washington’s proposal, seen by AFP, appears to rival a separate draft resolution produced by Kyiv and its European allies.

Contrary to the Ukrainian-European proposal which blames Russia for the invasion and commits to Kyiv’s “territorial integrity,” the US’s 65-word draft proposal does not criticize Moscow.

Instead it calls for a “swift end to the conflict” without mentioning Kyiv’s territorial integrity.

Trump says Zelensky and Putin must ‘get together’

Calling it a “simple, historic resolution,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged UN member states on Friday “to support (the US draft) in order to chart a path to peace.”

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had complained that his country had been left out of talks between US and Russian officials — prompting an attack from Trump who called Zelensky a “dictator without elections.”

He also falsely blamed Ukraine for starting the war.

But Trump on Friday appeared to shift away from his criticisms, and said that Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will have to “get together” to bring an end to the conflict.

“President Putin and President Zelensky are going to have to get together... We want to stop killing millions of people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer — who are both due at the White House next week for potentially tricky discussions — have been accused by Trump of doing nothing to end the war.

Macron said on Friday he will tell Trump that “you can’t be weak with President Putin.”

US-Russia meeting

A second meeting between representatives of Russia and the United States is planned for the next two weeks, the RIA state news agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

The meeting will take place in a third country and the specific location is being agreed upon, Ryabkov told RIA in an interview.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2025