US requests Security Council meeting: Russian troops bordering Ukraine withdraw

The United States of America has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the gathering of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US had demanded that a public session be held Monday, reports Atish.

This would be the first time the 15-member council meets to discuss the current escalation of the crisis in Ukraine. She said the meeting is required after weeks of close consultations with Ukraine and partners at the Security Council, and since more than 100,000 Russian troops are deployed on the Ukrainian border and that Russia is engaged in other destabilising acts targeting Ukraine”, she has said.

Thomas-Grenfield called on council members to fully examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe and for the fundamental obligations and principles of international law if Russia invades Ukraine.

Starting in November, the US and Europe began to sound the alarm for a large gathering of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, causing fears that Moscow was planning a military offensive that would dramatically escalate the conflict between the two countries.