UNITED NATIONS: The US ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed "as nonsense" Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he is putting Russian troops in separatist areas of eastern Ukraine as peacekeepers, saying their presence is clearly the basis for Russia's attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday night that this move and Putin's earlier announcement that Russia will recognise the separatist areas as independent states are also an unprovoked attack on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
By his actions, she said, Putin has torn the Minsk Agreement to shreds.
Thomas-Greenfield said Putin has put before the world a choice and it must not look away because history tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly path.
She said Putin is testing to see how far he can push us all, and all countries must stand up for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries.
Thomas-Greenfield warned that the consequences of Russia's actions will be dire across Ukraine, across Europe, and across the globe.