The United Nations is no great moral arbiter of anything, but at least the United States has tried over the years to have that group of nations recognize the truth about bad actors. That wasn’t the case Monday, as the U.S. voted with Russia against a General Assembly resolution calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
What a regrettable moment. The resolution, sponsored by Ukraine and European nations, wasn’t even all that strong. It merely noted “with concern that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation” has had “devastating and long-lasting consequences” and called for “an early cessation of hostilities.”
Apparently even this was too much of a rebuke to Vladimir Putin for President Trump to tolerate as he seeks to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war. The U.S. had supported these resolutions since the war began but is now voting with the world’s rogues rather than with its allies. The U.S. tried to pressure Ukraine to withdraw its resolution in favor of an American draft that didn’t cite Russia as the aggressor in the war. Kyiv understandably refused.
The resolution has no practical importance, though it does underscore Mr. Trump’s turn toward Russia in the conflict. Perhaps he thinks that telling the truth about Russia will cause Mr. Putin to walk away from the Ukraine negotiations. Ronald Reagan, who also sought peace and achieved it, never shrank from telling the truth about the Soviet Union. The truth was an essential weapon in defeating what Reagan called an “evil empire.”
Meanwhile, at the White House on Monday, Mr. Trump and Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine talks. The French President went out of his way to praise Mr. Trump’s peace effort and said Europe will be willing to deploy peace-keeping troops to Ukraine after a deal is struck. Mr. Macron also made clear such a deal would have to be backed by U.S. guarantees to be credible. He’s certainly right given that a cease-fire would give Russia a chance to rearm for another invasion if the U.S. abandons Europe.
Mr. Trump didn’t say if the U.S. would provide such guarantees. It’s hard to be optimistic if he won’t tell the truth about which country started the war.
