The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia for invading Ukraine and require Moscow to immediately and unconditionally withdraw, a senior U.S. administration official said.
Russia is expected to veto the measure, said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, but the issue is then likely to be taken up by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly in the coming days.
"We view the Council as the critical venue in which Russia must be forced to explain itself," said the U.S. official on Thursday.
Although the measure is doomed to fail - Russia is a Council veto power along with the United States, China, France and Britain - the U.S. official said: "We're not going to abandon our principles. We're not going to stand by and do nothing."
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine as the 15-member Security Council met in New York late on Wednesday to try and defuse weeks of mounting tensions.
Washington and allies see a vote on a draft resolution at the Council as a chance to try and isolate Moscow over its actions, seeking at least 13 votes in favor and an abstention by Russia's partner - China.
"Russia's aggressive actions here carry risks for China along with everyone else," the U.S. official said. "It's not in China's interest to endorse a devastating conflict in Europe and defy the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity it claims to hold dear."
The draft text reaffirms the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine and also calls for the rapid, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need, the U.S. official said.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
