Russia welcomes ‘more balanced’ US stance on Ukraine after UN Security Council vote

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Tuesday welcomed what it described as a much more balanced U.S. stance on Ukraine after the United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution that took a neutral position on the conflict.

“We see that the United States is taking a much more balanced position, which really helps the efforts aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“We certainly welcome this. We believe that such a balanced position speaks of a real desire to contribute to a settlement.”

At the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, the United States unsuccessfully opposed a resolution demanding Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. But in the Security Council, it won approval of a resolution that called for peace, without assigning blame for the war.

The votes, on the third anniversary of the war, highlighted the dramatic shift in Washington’s position since President Donald Trump took office in January.

They exposed divisions that have emerged with U.S. allies such as Britain and France, both of which abstained on the Security Council resolution that was backed by Russia and China.

Peskov said Europe had not yet adopted an even position, but its stance might change.

“Well, as for the Europeans, of course, the statements made from Brussels and so on, including from Kyiv yesterday, they do not yet signal a balance, but perhaps, based on the results of contacts between Europeans and Americans, Europe will somehow gravitate towards a greater balance,” he said.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, writing by Felix Light, Editing by Mark Trevelyan)