Argentina was among the 65 countries that abstained from voting on a United Nations resolution Monday that called for Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine — a notable move given the country’s staunch support of Ukraine under President Javier Milei.
The U.N. resolution – titled “Advancing a Comprehensive, Just and Lasting Peace in Ukraine” – was promoted by Ukraine and several European nations. The text demands that Russia withdraw “immediately, completely and unconditionally all its military forces” from Ukraine. The resolution passed with 93 votes in favor and 18 against. The United States was among the 18 countries that voted against the resolution.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, explained on Monday that the United States’ vote against the resolution was because it was “antagonistic” to and ran against efforts to bring both Russia and Ukraine to the table to negotiate an end to the ongoing war.
On that same day, the United States introduced a separate, narrower resolution titled “Path to Peace.” The U.S.-led resolution, which calls for an end to the war, passed at the U.N. Security Council.
Argentina’s abstention from voting for or against the Ukraine-European led U.N. resolution precedes months of loud support from President Milei for the Ukrainian cause, both before and after assuming the presidency of Argentina in December 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was among the international heads of state who Milei invited to his inauguration. Milei has also been a vocal supporter of the United States and of President Donald Trump especially, whose administration did not back that resolution.
In June 2024, Milei participated in a Summit for Peace in Ukraine hosted by Switzerland, where he expressed his “maximum support” of Ukraine. In December, both heads of state held a telephone conversation in which Zelensky reportedly thanked Milei for his support of Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion while praising the Argentine president’s economic reforms. Both Milei and Zelensky last met on January 22 in Davos, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the latest gathering of the World Economy Forum.
Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein defended the nation’s stance at the U.N. in an interview given to the Argentine newspaper La Nación on Monday evening. The Argentine top diplomat asserted that the country has not changed its stance but explained that, unlike the United States’ resolution that urges to end the war, the Ukrainian-European led resolution contained “a lot of rhetoric from the past but without any proposals.”
“Already at the G20 in South Africa, before this resolution is on the table, Argentina stated that we advocate a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to end the war in Ukraine,” Werthein said. “When the United States presented this, Milei said that this is a unique possibility to support a peace process. Here hundreds of thousands of people died and the President privileged that there is a little light to have peace.”
“The opinion hasn’t changed. The U.S. resolution says that it urges an end to this war in which many people died. There are no adjectives or responsibilities. Europe had a resolution with a lot of rhetoric from the past but without any proposal to resolve,” he continued. “Argentina will always be on the side where it can participate in a peace process. When there are so many deaths and an opportunity to stop it, we have to do it. The rest will be discussed later.”
Hours before Werthein’s interview, unnamed Argentine diplomatic sources told La Nación that the abstention is related to the “search to end the war,” an effort the sources attributed to President Donald Trump. The sources reportedly asserted that “we had to choose between looking good and promoting peace. We chose the latter.”
The vote followed President Trump accusing Zelensky of being a “dictator without elections” last week. Milei has repeatedly insisted that under his administration Argentina would undergo a “realignment” of its foreign policy, embracing the United States and Israel as its main allies after nearly two decades of socialist governments pushed Argentina toward China, Russia, Iran, and the authoritarian Latin American regimes of Cuba and Venezuela.
Argentina’s abstention at the U.N. resolution vote was met with backlash from leftist Argentine opposition politicians, whose parties have been friendly with Moscow. Opposition Senator Martin Lousteau of UCR, a party listed as a member of the Socialist International, denounced the abstention as “regrettable” and accused Milei of “childlishly” following President Trump in defining the nation’s foreign policy.
A group of opposition lawmakers led by Congressman Julio Cobos reportedly introduced a resolution project demanding that the Argentine government explain its decision. Cobos argued that the abstention is contradictory to Milei’s previous statements in firm support of Ukraine and condemnation of Russia for its invasion of Ukrainian territory.
On Monday, a group of European Union ambassadors in Buenos Aires participated in an event hosted by the city’s autonomous legislature on the occasion of the third anniversary of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine to condemn Russia.
According to the local news channel, Todo Noticias, the European diplomats stressed their desire for the European Union and Ukraine to be present in the United States’ negotiations with Russia to bring an end to the war. Ukrainian Ambassador to Argentina Yurii Klymenko reportedly stated that “any agreement reached behind our country’s back will not be recognised by Ukraine.”
Todo Noticias explained that no Argentine government official attended the Buenos Aires legislature event. The newspaper, citing various sources from the Argentine Foreign Ministry, reported that the lack of official government representation at the event “expresses the change of position that Argentina has taken since Trump’s arrival at the White House and that was made evident by the abstention in the U.N. to request the withdrawal of Russian troops from sovereign Ukrainian territory.”
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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