Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Sunday mentioned the U.S. is “nonetheless working to discourage the Russians from making the fallacious alternative and selecting confrontation,” as issues rise that Moscow is planning an incursion towards Ukraine.
Requested by co-anchor Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” how probably she thinks a Russian invasion of Ukraine is, Thomas-Greenfield mentioned the U.S. continues to be pursuing diplomatic channels whereas additionally working to handle safety issues.
“We’ll proceed to work on a diplomatic resolution however on the identical time, we all know that the Russians proceed to organize and we shall be working to handle the safety points,” she mentioned.
Russia has amassed greater than 100,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border, stoking concern amongst U.S. officers and different nations that Moscow could also be planning an incursion towards Ukraine. Russia, nevertheless, has denied having such plans.
The Biden administration introduced on Wednesday that it was deploying and repositioning greater than 3,000 U.S. troops to bolster Jap European allies amid the rising tensions.
The subsequent day, the Pentagon mentioned officers imagine Russia could plan to create a pretext to invade Ukraine by making a propaganda video that depicts aggression towards Russians.
Requested on Sunday how probably an invasion is, Thomas-Greenfield additionally pointed to the U.N. Safety Council assembly final week, by which the U.S. labored to unite the worldwide group in confronting Russia’s buildup on the Ukrainian border by characterizing it as a risk to international peace and safety. The trouble, nevertheless, drew criticism from Russia that the U.S. was fueling alarm.
“That is the rationale we held the assembly within the Safety Council on Monday final week, to have the Russians hear a unified voice from the overwhelming majority of members within the Safety Council that they need to pursue a diplomatic resolution to their safety issues,” Greenfield-Thomas mentioned on Sunday.