President Joe Biden called a United Nations Security Council meeting on Russia’s threat to Ukraine “a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice,” elevating the push to heap diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
“We made clear to the international community the full implications of that threat — not just for Ukraine, but for core tenets of the UN Charter and the modern international order,” Biden said in a statement on Monday. “The world must be clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening and ready to respond to the risks those actions present to all of us.”
Led by the United States, the call for debate comes as some 100,000 Russian troops are massed along Ukraine’s eastern border, heightening fears of an invasion.
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“If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith,” the president said. But, he added, an attack on Ukraine by Russia would face “swift and severe consequences.”
Biden also urged the council to reject the use of force, seek military de-escalation, back diplomacy, and demand accountability from every member “to refrain from military aggression against its neighbor.”
The U.S. received 10 votes at the Security Council to hold an open meeting over the Ukraine crisis, with Russia and China opposed, and three abstentions. Nine votes were needed to move the debate forward.
Moscow has demanded security concessions from the U.S. and NATO, including guaranteeing that Ukraine will not join NATO. A response last week failed to address Russia’s concerns over the eastward expansion of the military alliance, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Lavrov on Tuesday, the State Department said.
In remarks earlier in the day, U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield argued that Russia’s aggression threatens international rules, including “the principle that one country cannot simply redraw another country’s borders by force, or make another country’s people live under a government they did not choose.”
Thomas-Greenfield said the council could not adopt a “wait and see” approach amid Moscow’s military buildup and claims that Ukraine is “not a real country.”
“What would it mean for the world if former empires had license to start reclaiming territory by force? This would set us down a dangerous path,” she added.
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Moscow accused Washington of promoting unfounded charges of Russian aggression.
“We are being asked to convene a Security Council meeting on unfounded accusations that we have refuted frequently,” Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said.
