CNN
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US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of pro-Moscow regions in Ukraine as impartial was an “attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine” and that his claim that the Russian forces he has ordered to enter these areas are “peacekeepers” is merely “nonsense.”
“We know what they really are,” Thomas-Greenfield mentioned of these forces in remarks at a last-minute UN Security Council assembly Monday night time.
The UN Security Council held an emergency assembly following Putin’s decrees earlier Monday that acknowledged two pro-Moscow territories in Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as impartial, ordering troops to the territories within the Donbas area.
Thomas-Greenfield mentioned Putin’s actions on Monday has “put before the world a choice.”
“We must meet the moment and we must not look away. History tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly path,” she mentioned. “President Putin is testing our international system. He’s testing our resolve and seeing just how far he can push us all.”
Thomas-Greenfield’s feedback marked the primary senior US official to reply to Putin’s actions publicly. The Biden administration introduced after Putin’s decrees that it is imposing new sanctions on commerce and financing within the two territories, and Thomas-Greenfield mentioned that the US would take additional measures Tuesday to maintain Russia accountable for the “clear violation of international law.”
“We must make it clear that an attack on Ukraine is an attack on the sovereignty of every UN member state and the UN Charter and that it will be met with swift and severe consequences,” Thomas-Greenfield added.
The United Kingdom additionally plans to announce new sanctions on Russia on account of its choice to acknowledge the territories, mentioned Barbara Woodward, the UK’s everlasting consultant to the UN.
“There will be severe economic consequences to its actions,” Woodward mentioned.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya defended Moscow’s actions towards Ukraine, echoing Putin’s grievances towards the West and accusing western international locations of giving Ukraine weapons.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya warned that Russia would goal extra international locations if the worldwide neighborhood doesn’t arise to Moscow.
“Members of the Security Council, the United Nations is sick, that’s a matter of fact. It’s been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin,” Kyslytsya mentioned. “Will it succumb to this virus? It is in the hands of the membership.”
China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun delivered a terse assertion that prevented taking sides. “All parties concerned must exercise restraint, and avoid any action that may fuel tensions,” he mentioned.
Thomas-Greenfield mentioned Putin has “made a series of outrageous false claims about Ukraine, aimed at creating a pretext for war, and immediately thereafter announced Russian troops are entering the Donbas.”
She mentioned his claim that Ukraine is in search of nuclear weapons from the West is unfaithful, including that the US and its allies have “no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Ukraine and Ukraine doesn’t want them.”
She mentioned that Putin’s assertions that Russia has a rightful claim to all territories from the Russian empire of 100 years in the past might embrace counties like Finland, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova.
“In essence, Putin wants the world to travel back in time, to time before the United Nations to a time when empires ruled the world. But the rest of the world has moved forward. It is not 1919. It is 2022,” she mentioned. “The United Nations was founded on the principle of decolonization, not recolonization and we believe the vast majority of UN member states and the UN Security Council are committed to moving forward not going back in time.”
Monday’s assembly was held on the request of Ukraine and different international locations following Putin’s strikes, which have sparked fears that the popularity of the pro-Moscow territories is the opening section of a bigger potential army operation focusing on Ukraine.
This story has been up to date with further particulars.