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UN: The United Nations on Monday kicked off an emergency Security Council meeting on the depths of the crisis in Ukraine, with Russia recognizing two isolated territories and ordering the deployment of troops as peacekeepers.
“We are facing a very dramatic situation,” Nicolas de Riviere, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters before entering the council chamber. France was among the few countries that called an emergency session at the instigation of Ukraine.
Speaking at the session, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that troops he had previously ordered to be deployed in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions would play a role in peacekeeping.
“He’s calling them peacekeepers. That’s nonsense. We know what they really are,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
Putin’s order has been widely seen as paving the way for an operation to deploy part of a possible offensive force on Ukraine’s border.
In a lengthy televised national speech announcing the recognition of rebel-controlled areas, Putin protested against Ukraine as a failed state and a “puppet” of the West, repeatedly suggesting that it was essentially part of Russia.
Thomas-Greenfield said the speech was a “series of outrageous, false claims” aimed at “making excuses for war.”
Russia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, has stated opposition to using force or imposing sanctions on Iran.
Putin’s recognition of the separatist republic effectively buried a fragile 2015 peace plan for conflict and opened the door to direct Russian military involvement.
Moscow has not provided any details or date for the deployment of “peacekeeping” forces, only stating that it is “effective from the day it was signed.”
“We are facing a very dramatic situation,” Nicolas de Riviere, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters before entering the council chamber. France was among the few countries that called an emergency session at the instigation of Ukraine.
Speaking at the session, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that troops he had previously ordered to be deployed in Ukraine’s rebel-held Donetsk and Lugansk regions would play a role in peacekeeping.
“He’s calling them peacekeepers. That’s nonsense. We know what they really are,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
Putin’s order has been widely seen as paving the way for an operation to deploy part of a possible offensive force on Ukraine’s border.
In a lengthy televised national speech announcing the recognition of rebel-controlled areas, Putin protested against Ukraine as a failed state and a “puppet” of the West, repeatedly suggesting that it was essentially part of Russia.
Thomas-Greenfield said the speech was a “series of outrageous, false claims” aimed at “making excuses for war.”
Russia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, has stated opposition to using force or imposing sanctions on Iran.
Putin’s recognition of the separatist republic effectively buried a fragile 2015 peace plan for conflict and opened the door to direct Russian military involvement.
Moscow has not provided any details or date for the deployment of “peacekeeping” forces, only stating that it is “effective from the day it was signed.”
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