The UN Security Council will meet to discuss the Ukraine crisis, with Washington warning that it will challenge Moscow hard over its massive troop buildup that has prompted fears Russia is preparing to invade its western neighbor.
Despite Moscow saying that it did not intend to start a conflict, fears of an imminent incursion have grown in recent days, prompting the United States and Britain on January 29 to warn of “devastating” economic sanctions against Russia, as Washington and its allies step up efforts to deter any invasion of Ukraine.
Live Briefing: Ukraine In The Crosshairs
Check out RFE/RL’s new live briefing on the massive buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine’s border and the diplomacy under way to prevent a possible invasion. Ukraine In The Crosshairs presents the latest developments and analysis, updated throughout the day.
With tensions spiking as Moscow massed more than 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, the United States said it was prepared to push back against any “disinformation” Moscow put forward in what is expected to be one of the most closely watched UN sessions in years.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield pledged on ABC TV on January 30 that the United States and others’ “voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves.”
“We’re going into the room prepared to listen to them, but we’re not going to be distracted by their propaganda,” she said of the Security Council meeting.
Russia, which holds veto power in the council, is likely to try to block the 15-member body from holding its U.S.-requested meeting, “but the Security Council is unified. Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves,” Thomas-Greenfield told ABC News.
Amid a flurry of diplomatic contacts, U.S. Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told CBS a proposal on security issues presented last week by Washington and NATO to Russia appears to be of interest to Moscow.
The proposal includes the likelihood of new talks this week between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Putin has demanded a guarantee that NATO won’t allow Ukraine’s future membership and Moscow has subsequently suggested it won’t tolerate NATO troops and infrastructure in places like Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia.
Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, on January 30 dismissed Western warnings of a planned Russian invasion.
“At this time, they’re saying that Russia threatens Ukraine — that’s completely ridiculous,” state news agency TASS quoted him as saying. “We don’t want war and we don’t need it at all.”
NATO “has already come close to Ukraine. They also want to drag this country there,” Lavrov said the same day, “although everyone understands that Ukraine is not ready and could make no contribution to strengthening NATO security.”
NATO and its member states have repeated that intentions to join or not join NATO are up to sovereign states and said they won’t allow Russia to forbid other countries’ choices.
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, took a tough stance, saying it was crucial Washington send a powerful message to Putin that any aggression against Ukraine would come at a very high cost.
“We cannot have a Munich moment again,” Senator Bob Menendez said on CNN, referring to the 1938 agreement between Britain, France, and Nazi Germany that led to Adolf Hitler’s annexing part of Czechoslovakia as the Western powers sought to appease the Nazi dictator and prevent war.
“Putin will not stop with Ukraine,” Menendez said.
He indicated some sanctions could be levied over actions Russia has already taken in Ukraine, including cyberattacks, but there would be “devastating sanctions that ultimately would crush Russia” should Moscow invade.
Nuland said the White House was working closely with the Senate, and that any sanctions measures would be “very well-aligned” with those coming from European allies.
Putin “will feel it acutely,” she said.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain would unveil sanctions legislation targeting “a much wider variety” of Russian economic objectives.
“There will be nowhere to hide for Putin’s oligarchs,” Truss told Sky News.
However, analysts say sanctions hitting Russian banks and financial institutions would not only affect Russia but could roil major economies in Europe and elsewhere.
Britain is also ready to offer NATO a “major” deployment of troops, weapons, warships and jets, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on January 29. At the same time, he is expected to speak with Putin this week.
But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the Western military alliance will not send combat troops to Ukraine in the event Russia invades the country.
“We have no plans to deploy NATO combat troops to Ukraine…we are focusing on providing support,” Stoltenberg told the BBC during an interview on January 30. “There is a difference between being a NATO member and being a strong and highly valued partner as Ukraine.”
Canada on January 29 announced the temporary repatriation of all nonessential employees from its Kyiv embassy. And its defense minister, Anita Anand, said Canadian forces in Ukraine were protectively being moved west of the Dnieper river.
Russia on January 29 said it wanted “respectful” relations with the United States and again denied it intends to invade Ukraine.
“We want good, equal, mutually respectful relations with the United States, like with every country in the world,” Lavrov told Russian TV.
Lavrov said Russia will seek clarity from NATO and the 57-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe pertaining to their positions on regional security, and will continue to demand legally binding security guarantees “with full, equal, regard to Russia’s legitimate interests.”
