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       KYIV: Leaders from France, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Canada, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Latvia, the European Council, the European Commission, Denmark, Iceland, and Spain attend a conference held to mark three years of the Ukraine war, on Monday.—AFP

       ？ Resolution adopted with 93 votes in favour, 65 abstentions and 18 against

       ？ Kyiv hosts European leaders to mark three years of war, but top US officials stay away

       UNITED NATIONS: The United States on Monday abstained in a United Nations vote on a resolution it drafted to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the General Assembly agreed to add language supportive of Kyiv to Washington’s text.

       The vote was a victory for European nations concerned about US overtures to Russia by the administration of President Donald Trump in talks to end the war.

       The original US draft was three paragraphs — mourning the loss of life during the “Russia-Ukraine conflict”, reiterating that the UN’s main purpose is to maintain international peace and security and peacefully settle disputes, and urging a swift end to the conflict and a lasting peace.

       But European amendments added references to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the need for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in line with the founding UN Charter and reaffirmed the UN’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

       “Multiple resolutions … have demanded that Russia withdraw its forces from Ukraine. Those resolutions have failed to stop the war,” Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said before the vote. “What we need is a resolution, marking the commitment from all UN member states to bring a durable end to the war.”

       The amended US-drafted resolution won 93 votes in favour, while 73 states abstained and eight voted no.

       The US put forward its text on Friday, pitting it against Ukraine and European allies who spent the past month negotiating with their own resolution. The General Assembly also adopted the resolution drafted by Ukraine and European countries on Monday with 93 votes in favour, 65 abstentions and 18 no votes.

       European leaders in Ukraine

       Ukraine hosted European leaders on Monday to mark three years of all-out war with Russia, while top US officials stayed away in a clear illustration of President Trump’s lurch towards Moscow since returning to power.

       Still reeling from Trump denouncing the Ukrainian president as a “dictator” and accusing him of starting the war, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has told Europe to create its own army while urging Wash-ington to be pragmatic, welcomed a slew of European and other leaders to a summit in Kyiv to commemorate the start in 2022 of the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two.

       The visitors included Euro-pean Commission President Urs-ula von der Leyen, Euro-pean Council President Ant-onio Costa and the leaders of Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Lat-via, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

       Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2025