UNITED NATIONS: The United States has called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday to address the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border.
Russia was quick to react, denouncing the move as a “clear P R stunt” orchestrated by the United States, and signaled Moscow’s intent to derail it. On their part, American officials expressed confidence that the meeting, planned to be broadcast live on Monday, would proceed.
In Washington, a senior Biden administration official told reporters the US wants to get UN members on the record but said that no concrete measures or a joint statement are expected to come out of the 15-member Council meeting.
Russia, as one of five permanent members of the council, holds the power to veto such measures. The other permanent members are the US, France, the United Kingdom, and China.
There are 10 non-permanent members of the council that are elected to two-year terms and procedure dictates that nine members must vote in the affirmative for an agenda item to proceed.
The official claimed that the US has the necessary votes, saying that the session will provide an opportunity for “preventive diplomacy,” and to allow “all of the world’s powers to be on the record about whether they see a path forward for diplomacy or whether they would prefer to see a path towards conflict.”
The official added that the US delegation expects China, which has moved closer to Russia in general amid fraught tensions with the US, to express concerns about respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
