The U.S. slams Russian 'peacekeepers in Ukraine as 'fantasy

The U.S. slams Russian ‘peacekeepers in Ukraine as ‘fantasy.’ 

UNITED NATIONS: The deployment of what Russia described as a peacekeeping mission in the eastern region of Ukraine has been declared “nonsense,” and Moscow’s acceptance of parts that break away as independent is a justification for declaring conflict, as United States officials said on Monday. 

United States told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

The effects from Russia’s conduct “will be devastating across Ukraine as well as across Europe and around the world,” U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, addressed the emergency session of the council’s 15 members.

The tensions between Moscow and Western capitals have escalated after weeks of United States accusations that Russia has deployed as many as 150,000 troops in Ukraine’s border region to prevent an invasion. 

Russia has denied that it intends to attack Ukraine and has accused the West of inciting hysteria.

READ MORE: Russian troops stationed in Ukraine’s Donbas will not trigger more sanctions, says a U.S. official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday officially recognized the two breakaway regions – – the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic – as independent, despite Western suggestions that such a move would be unconstitutional and ruin peace talks. 

“President Putin has torn the Minsk Agreement to shreds. So we’ve made it open about our refusal to think he’s going to end there,” said Thomas-Greenfield, about the agreements of 2014 and 2015. 

They were designed to end the conflict between the Ukrainian army and separatists supported by Russia in the eastern part of Ukraine.

On Monday, Putin has also ordered that Russian troops to the Donbas region in the eastern region of Ukraine “keep in peace.”

“We remain open to diplomatic efforts in search of a diplomatic resolution. However, allowing another bloodbath within the Donbas is something we are not planning to allow,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said to members of the Security Council.

The majority of council members widely criticized Russia for its conduct on Monday. 

Kenya’s U.N. Ambassador Martin Kimani condemned what he said was a growing trend of powerful nations ignoring international law without a care in the process, adding: “Multilateralism lies on its deathbed this evening.”

China’s U.N. ambassador Zhang Jun said, “all parties affected must show restraint and stay clear of any move which could cause tensions” he added that Beijing welcomes and supports all efforts to reach a solution.

Eight council members, including those from the United States, Britain and France, and France, have backed Kyiv’s demand to the Security Council to meet following Putin’s announcement.

The third Security Council meeting in Ukraine within a few weeks. The council has met hundreds of times to debate Ukraine’s situation. 

Ukraine conflict since Russia took over the Ukrainian Crimea Region in 2014. However, the body cannot do anything because Russia has a veto power alongside France, Britain, China, and the United States.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes Russia has infringed on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in its decision to recognize the eastern region of Ukraine as an independent entity, the U.N. spokesperson said.

U.N. Chief of the political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that the United Nations regretted Russia’s order to send troops into the eastern part of Ukraine for a reported “peacekeeping task.”