The US has again declined to join a UN statement condemning Russia’s attacks on Ukraine and calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, while 50 countries backed the document marking Ukraine’s 35th anniversary of independence.
The statement was issued on Monday, Aug. 24, as Kyiv, Washington and European partners work on a new peace framework that could include a ceasefire and troop withdrawals.
“We strongly urge Russia to respond to the calls for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire and resume talks on a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said while reading the statement at the UN.
The signatories also called for the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of unlawfully detained people, and the return of Ukrainians deported to Russia, including children.
The US has previously declined to support similar Ukrainian initiatives at the UN.
In late May, Washington did not join a Ukrainian statement condemning Russia’s threats to carry out “systematic strikes” against Kyiv. In the fall of 2025, the US permanent representative to the UN also declined to support a Ukrainian statement accusing Moscow of waging an “unprovoked war.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya rejected the latest statement, saying attempts to “impose” a freeze on the war on Russia under the guise of a ceasefire were “doomed to fail.”
Nebenzya said Moscow would not accept agreements that compromise what it considers its security interests. He also argued that repeated UN Security Council meetings on Ukraine would not change Russia’s position.
He added that meaningful political and diplomatic dialogue would remain impossible as long as Russia was addressed through “ultimatums, terror, and threats” and what he called the “situation on the ground” was ignored.