Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said during Monday’s UNSC meeting that there is no proof of military action against Ukraine, and instead asserted that his western UN colleagues are “whipping up tensions and rhetoric.”
“We just don’t understand what we are discussing here today and why we are indeed here today,” Nebenzia said of Monday’s meeting. “This deployment of Russian troops in our own territory is getting our Western and U.S. colleagues to say that there’s going to be a planned military action and even an act of aggression… the military action of Russia against Ukraine that they’re all assuring us is going to take place in just a few weeks’ time if not a few days’ time. There, however, is no proof confirming such a serious accusation whatsoever being put forward.”
Nebenzia accused the United States and other western colleagues of provoking escalation by fueling “hysteria” and creating a “sham tension” in the region.
“You are almost calling for this, you want it to happen. You’re waiting for it to happen, as if you want to make your words become a reality. This is despite the fact that we are constantly rejecting these allegations and this is despite the fact that no threat of a planned invasion into Ukraine from the lips of any Russian politician or public figure over all of this period has been made,” Nebenzia said.
The Russian ambassador went on to say that such talk of invasion was an “attempt to drive a wedge between Russia and Ukraine” and that “Ukrainians are actively being brainwashed.”
Nebenzia also called into question the estimate of 100,000 troops on the Russian-Ukrainian border, as stated earlier in the meeting by United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“Where did you get the figure of 100,000 troops that are deployed, as you state, on the Russian-Ukrainian border, although that is not the case? We have never cited that figure, we have never confirmed that figure,” Nebenzia said.
CNN’s Liam Reilly contributed to this report.