UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Monday for the first time on Russia’s troop buildup and threatening actions against Ukraine at the request of the United States, and all key players are expected to square off in public over the possibility of a Russian invasion and its global impact, according to AP.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia’s actions pose “a clear threat to international peace and security and the UN Charter.” Council members “must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine,” she said Thursday in announcing the meeting.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky responded angrily, tweeting: “I can’t recall another occasion when a SC (Security Council) member proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to intl (international) order from someone else. Hopefully fellow UNSC members will not support this clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council.”
Polyansky’s reaction indicated that Russia may start the meeting asking for a procedural vote on whether it should go ahead. To block the meeting, Russia would need support from nine of the 15 members.
A senior official in the Biden administration said the United States is in regular contact with council members and is “confident” that there is “more than sufficient support” to hold the meeting.
“It goes right to the heart of the role of the Security Council itself,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly. “This preventive diplomacy is exactly what the council is supposed to be doing, and I think member states understand that.”
Russia’s massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine has brought increasingly strong warnings from the West that Moscow intends to invade. Russia is demanding that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance, and to stop the deployment of NATO weapons near Russian borders and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe. NATO and the US call those demands impossible.
Assuming the meeting goes ahead, the council will first hear a briefing by a senior UN official followed by statements from its 15 members including Russia, the United States and European members France, Ireland, United Kingdom and Albania. Under council rules, Ukraine will also speak.
China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun, whose country has close ties to Russia, indicated Beijing supports Moscow in opposing a council meeting.
“Both sides have shown willingness to continue their negotiations,” he told several reporters on Friday. “Let them settle the differences through dialogue, through negotiations.”
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