A UN Security Council sitting has taken place to discuss the existing military tension around Ukraine. In it, the Russian side has blamed Washington of misleading the international community on the security situation in the region. The US have pointed to increased Russian military presence in Belarus, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
In the Monday, January 31, meeting in New York, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya noted that there was no proof that Russia was planning military action against Ukraine, and that its troop amassing was not acknowledged by the UN. «This isn’t just unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of our state, it’s also an attempt to mislead the international community about the true situation in the region and the reasons for the current global tensions,» Nebenzya evaluated.
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The American Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in turn, stated the US continued to believe there was a diplomatic solution but warned that the US would act decisively if Russia invaded Ukraine. Thomas-Greenfield said that the mobilisation of Russian troops in territories around Ukraine was the biggest Europe had seen in decades and that it was continuing with plans by Moscow to increase its force deployed in neighbouring Belarus, on Ukraine’s northern border, to 30,000.
Also on Monday, the US ordered the departure of family members of American government staff from Belarus, pointing to the «unusual and concerning Russian military build-up». Earlier in January, the US ordered the departure of family members of American government employees linked to the US Embassy in Kyiv, the BBC reports.
Russia accuses Washington of misleading over Ukraine; US concerned about troop presence in Belarus
