The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council will convene Friday to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Roughly a dozen European foreign ministers are scheduled to be in New York for the occasion. They will reiterate their support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and demand that Russia withdraw its forces from the country.
Yet if this should be a satisfactory set of U.N. events for the Ukrainians, they may also feel that it is a little low-key. At a gathering of the General Assembly on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s aggression in February 2023, 141 of the U.N.’s 193 members supported a resolution calling for a “just, comprehensive and lasting peace” in Ukraine, including a demand for a Russian withdrawal. This year, Kyiv and its allies are not calling for a vote on a similar text.
That is partly because they do not need to. Last year’s resolution still stands. But Western diplomats are frank that they are not sure that they could get a similar level of support now.