Russia and US clash over Ukraine at UN Security Council
- US envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield dismisses claims that Washington is trying ‘to whip up tensions’, as Moscow loses its bid to block the public meeting
- Any formal action by the Security Council is extremely unlikely, given Russia’s veto power and its ties with others on the council, including China
Russia accused the West on Monday of “whipping up tensions” over Ukraine and said the US had brought “pure Nazis” to power in Kyiv as the UN Security Council held a stormy and bellicose debate on Moscow’s troop build-up near its southern neighbour.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield shot back that Russia’s growing military force of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders was “the largest mobilisation” in Europe in decades, adding that there has been a spike in cyberattacks and Russian disinformation.
“And they are attempting, without any factual basis, to paint Ukraine and Western countries as the aggressors to fabricate a pretext for attack,” she said.
The harsh exchanges in the Security Council came as Moscow lost an attempt to block the meeting and reflected the gulf between the two nuclear powers. It was the first open session where all protagonists in the Ukraine crisis spoke publicly, even though the UN’s most powerful body took no action.
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Ukrainian residents near Russian border on high alert as tensions mount between the two countries
Although more high-level diplomacy is expected this week, talks between the US and Russia have so far failed to ease tensions in the crisis, with the West saying Moscow is preparing for an invasion.
Russia denies it is planning to attack. It demands pledges that Ukraine will never join Nato, a halt to the deployment of Nato weapons near Russian borders and a rollback of the alliance’s forces from Eastern Europe. Nato and the US call those non-starters.
