During testy U.N. Security Council exchange, Russia accuses U.S. of 'whipping up hysteria' over Ukraine
Russia emphatically denied on Monday that it is planning to invade Ukraine, accusing the United States of “whipping up hysteria” and “provoking escalation” of a military conflict between the two countries for its own “pernicious interests.”
“Discussion about the threat of war is provocative in itself,” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said in comments directed at the U.S. during his open remarks at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday. “You are almost calling for this, you want it to happen, you’re waiting for it to happen, as if you want to make your words become a reality.”
The U.S. had requested the Security Council meeting in response to the recent buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops along the border of Ukraine, which the U.S. and NATO allies see as the precursor to a potential invasion of the independent country.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told members of the Security Council that Russia’s actions represented “the largest mobilization of troops in Europe in decades” and warned that “if Russia further invades Ukraine, none of us will be able to say we didn’t see it coming. And the consequences will be horrific.”
Nebenzya, however, downplayed the significance of the Russian military’s recent movements, insisting it “is not the case” that 100,000 troops have been deployed along the Ukrainian border.
“We have never cited that figure, never confirmed that figure,” he said, attempting to compare the comments made by Thomas-Greenfield to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s now infamous speech to the Security Council ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, in which he inaccurately claimed that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.
“They didn’t find any weapons,” Nebenzya said, “but what happened with that country is well known to one and all.”
While the U.S. and its NATO allies have repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine’s right to sovereignty and have vowed to act swiftly against Russia should it move ahead with an attack, Nebenzya accused the Western nations of “attempting to drive a wedge between Russia and Ukraine.”
Monday’s public confrontation follows weeks of unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions. Last week, the U.S. and NATO delivered written responses to a number of security demands outlined by the Kremlin. While Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the document produced by Washington offered Russia “a diplomatic path forward,” he made clear that this path did not include concessions on the Kremlin’s primary demands, including the withdrawal of NATO troops from Eastern Europe and the guarantee that Ukraine and other former Soviet-bloc countries would be prohibited from joining the alliance.
On Monday, Thomas-Greenfield cast doubt on whether Moscow is serious about finding a peaceful resolution to its stated security concerns, saying that “if this is truly about Russia's security concerns in Europe, we’re offering them the opportunity to discuss those concerns at the negotiating table.”
“If they refuse to do so,” she continued, “the world will know why and who is responsible.”
Despite the fiery back-and-forth, Thomas-Greenfield reiterated the Biden administration’s position that the U.S. continues to “believe there is a diplomatic path out of the crisis caused by Russia’s unprovoked military buildup.”
“We continue to hope Russia chooses the path of diplomacy over the path of conflict in Ukraine, but we cannot just wait and see,” she said.
In a statement, President Biden called the Security Council meeting “a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbors.”
