Western rhetoric on Ukraine is provocative in itself and only ramps up tensions, Russia’s UN envoy has said.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, Russia’s permanent representative to the parent body in New York, Vassily Nebenzia, blasted what he described as the war-like rhetoric of the West over Ukraine.
“They themselves are whipping up tensions and rhetoric and are provoking escalation,” Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said of US and NATO motives. “The discussions about a threat of war is provocative in and of itself. It looks like you’re calling for this. You want it to happen. You’re waiting for it to happen.”
“Our Western partners talk about the need for de-escalation, but first of all themselves ramp up tension with their rhetoric and provoke an escalation. Talk about an impending war is provocative in itself,” Nebenzia said, accusing the West of seeking to spark a conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Over the past few months, top Western politicians and media outlets have repeatedly warned of an allegedly imminent “invasion” of Ukraine being prepared by Moscow. Russia has consistently denied the claims, rubbishing the accusations that it’s amassing troops on the Ukrainian border, which is touted by as ‘proof’ of such plans.
“Where did the figure of a hundred thousand military personnel come from, which, as you say, are located on the Russian-Ukrainian border, although this is not true?” Nebenzia asked.
This highly-charged rhetoric surrounding Ukraine benefits only the West and the US in particular, Nebenzia stressed.
“It seems that our American colleagues are ready to sacrifice Ukraine to their geopolitical interests,” he said.
The diplomat also noted that even the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been urging the West to tone down the rhetoric. On Friday, Zelensky said that Kiev has not been “seeing any greater escalation than it has been before,” whereas press coverage and political statements looked like “we are at war already.”
At a rare UN Security Council debate Monday, which was urged by the US but slammed by Russia as a publicity stunt – in order for Moscow to “explain itself” over what Washington has for weeks asserted are “imminent” plans to “invade” Ukraine – Russia’s ambassador charged the US with seeking to provoke Russian action.
Just prior to the meeting at UN headquarters in New York, the Kremlin once again charged the US and and some allies, especially Britain, of stoking “hysteria”: “To our dismay, American media have lately been publishing a very large amount of unverified, distorted and deliberately deceitful information about what’s happening in Ukraine and around it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“Hysteria hyped up by Washington is causing hysteria in Ukraine, almost to the point that people are packing their bags for the front. It’s a fact,” he added. Last week Ukrainian leaders surprisingly made similar statements, seeking to calm their own population amid reports of people raiding grocery stores and taking out all their cash from banks. There have also been reports that average Ukrainians are stockpiling weapons in preparation for a Russian onslaught and occupation.
During the UN back-and-forth, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of not just building up forces near the Ukrainian border, but of a massive force build-up in Belarus. She said Russia aims to send at least 30,000 troops to its closest former Soviet satellite state ally:
After placing some 5,000 troops in Belarus, “we’ve seen evidence that Russia intends to expand that presence to more than 30,000 troops near the Belarus border” with Ukraine by early February, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council, noting the forces would be “less than two hours north of Kiev.”
Her words had echoes of recent admin officials who bizarrely claimed (without evidence) that Russia is looking to invade and take over the Ukraine capital. During the remarks, Thomas-Greenfield decried what she described as “the largest… mobilization of troops in Europe in decades.”
Lavrov: "There is still a small group of people who stand to benefit" from war in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/fQzCbutPGc
— Clint Ehrlich (@ClintEhrlich) January 31, 2022
Addressing the specific Russian charge that it’s actually the US seeking to provoke, she responded, “I cannot let the false equivalency go unchecked, so I feel I must respond. … The threats of aggression on the border of Ukraine – yes on its border – is provocative. Our recognition of the facts on the ground is not provocative.”
Notably backing Russia was its powerful neighbor to the south, China:
In a sign of their increasing alignment, China was the only country to back Russia’s effort to squash the public meeting. Its ambassador Zhang Jun said they oppose “microphone diplomacy of public confrontation” and believed the open discussion of the issue would add “fuel to the tension.”
#China @ChinaAmbUN does not support an open meeting on #Ukraine. 🇺🇦 “This is the time for quiet diplomacy.” pic.twitter.com/az8CAl3EeS
— Lenka Houskova White (@white_lenka) January 31, 2022
Monday’s UNSC meeting didn’t result in any specific action or even a joint statement, but appeared geared toward making each side’s allegations official before the global body.