Russia said on Monday (31) at the UN Security Council that the United States wants to provoke “hysteria”, after being accused of wanting to increase its military presence on the border with Ukraine. London and Washington have threatened to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs if the former Soviet republic is attacked.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin spoke by phone for the second time in four days, amid intense efforts by NATO allies to dissuade Russia from invading Ukraine.
With more than 100,000 Russian troops stationed on the neighboring country’s border, tensions escalated as Washington’s UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Russia would reinforce its troops on the Belarus-Ukraine border in the coming days. .
“We have evidence that Russia intends to reinforce its presence with more than 30,000 troops near the Belarus-Ukrainian border, less than two hours north of Kiev in early February,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
– Hysteria –
But Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, rejected the accusations and said the United States had provoked “hysteria” by convening a Security Council meeting to discuss Ukraine’s situation.
The diplomat assured that no Russian authorities threatened to invade the former Soviet republic and that Ukrainians were “brainwashed” with the “Russophobia” of the West. The troops are in Belarus to carry out joint exercises, he said.
The United States, according to Nebenzya, “is provoking tensions and rhetoric and causing an escalation.” “Discussions about a threat of war are provocative in themselves. They are practically asking for it, they want it to happen,” concluded Nebenzya.
– Isolated at the UN –
Russia denies that it is a threat to Ukraine, but asks for assurances that Kiev will not join the NATO transatlantic military alliance, and that the United States will not establish new military bases in countries in the former Soviet orbit.
Macron and Putin exchanged their views on the situation, “as well as aspects related to providing Russia with legally binding long-term security guarantees.”
The French president did not elaborate on the content of the conversation, which took place on the eve of the meeting, also by telephone, between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Russia made the United States aware of its position on Ukraine this evening hours before the conversation, although a State Department spokesman declined to release details.
Russia tried to block the Security Council meeting, but 10 of the 15 members voted in favor of the meeting.
Most members believe that the presence of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine is in itself a threat.
“This is the largest (…) troop deployment in Europe in decades,” said the ambassador. “And as we speak, Russia continues to send more troops and weapons” to reinforce them.
– De-escalation –
Ukrainian ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya called for a de-escalation of tensions in order to resume negotiations on the conflict on Ukrainian territory with the Moscow-backed secessionists in the eastern Donbas region.
“My president recently reiterated that he is ready to meet with his Russian counterpart,” Kyslytsya told the Security Council. “For Ukraine, the first priority today is to achieve a sustainable and unconditional ceasefire in Donbas.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Kiev tomorrow to discuss tensions with Ukraine’s president.
The United States has prepared “specific sanctions packages against members of the Russian elite and their families” to be applied if Russia attacks Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday.
Washington has identified “individuals who belong to or are close to the Kremlin’s inner circle,” she said, adding that these people are “particularly vulnerable targets” for sanctions because of their very close financial ties to Western countries.
“This is just one element among others in our desire to attack Russia from all angles” in the event of an attack, the spokeswoman said.
Britain, a top investment destination for Russian oligarchs, also announced on Monday that it would beef up its arsenal of possible sanctions against Russian individuals and companies.
Washington has been revealing for a few days the details of the mass sanctions the Americans plan to impose on Russia if there is a military escalation. It has already threatened to cut off Russian banks’ access to dollar transactions and ban the sale of technology from the United States to Russia.
Moscow on Monday accused British officials of preparing an “open attack against Russian companies”, saying that “the Anglo-Saxons are tremendously intensifying tensions on the European continent”.
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