The United States and Russia engaged in a bitter diplomatic brawl Monday at the U.N. Security Council over the Ukraine crisis, as the Americans accused the Russians of endangering peace by massing troops on Ukraine’s borders while Kremlin diplomats dismissed what they called hysterical U.S. fearmongering.
“The situation we are facing in Europe is urgent and dangerous,” the United States ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in her opening remarks to the council. “Russia’s actions strike at the very heart of the U.N. charter.”
Her Russian counterpart, Vasily Nebenzia, portrayed the Americans as provocateurs, “whipping up tensions and provoking escalation,” as he insisted that Russia had no plan to invade Ukraine.
“You are almost pulling for this,” he said, looking at Mrs. Thomas-Greenfield. “You want it to happen. You’re waiting for it to happen, as if you want to make your words become a reality.”
The meeting of the 15-nation council, requested by the United States last week, represented the highest-profile arena for the two powers to sway world opinion over Ukraine.
The tensions surrounding the former Soviet republic have been smoldering since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula nearly eight years ago after a Russia-friendly government in Ukraine was ousted. The tensions have escalated sharply in recent months and brought U.S.-Russian relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.
Russia has sent more than 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border in recent weeks, as part of President President Vladimir V. Putin’s effort to protect and enlarge his county’s sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. The Kremlin has accused the NATO alliance of threatening Russia and has demanded that it never admit Ukraine as a member.
The Biden administration has vowed to respond with crippling economic sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine.
The Security Council meeting adjourned after two hours with no action taken — although none had been expected. Mr. Nebenzia left the meeting before it was over. Mrs. Thomas-Greenfield told reporters afterward that the Russians “didn’t give us the answers we hoped they’d provide.”
But the Biden administration regarded the meeting as an important venue to display the resolve of the United States and its allies to confront Russia over what they see as its threat to invade Ukraine.
“We made clear to the international community the full implications of that threat — not just for Ukraine, but for core tenets of the U.N. Charter and the modern international order,” Mr. Biden said in a White House statement about the meeting.
“If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns…
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