Jeffrey Feltman, U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, opened the Security Council meeting by saying its immediate focus "must be to find ways to reverse the dangerous escalation of fighting that has occurred over the past 24 hours and move quickly away from armed conflict and toward political solutions and dialogue."
UK ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters: “Russia will be asked to explain why Russia has its troops inside Ukraine. It’s very clear that Russian regular troops are now in Ukraine.”
"Serious negotiations are needed, but Russia has to stop lying and has to stop fueling this conflict," said Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN. She said Russia “has manipulated. It has obfuscated. It has outright lied” about its role in Ukraine, reminding the council that the meeting was “the 24th session to try to rein in Russia’s aggressive acts in the Ukraine.”
“Every single one has sent a straightforward, unified message: ‘Russia, stop this conflict. Russia is not listening,’” she said, adding that Russia’s force along the border is the largest it’s been since it started deploying there in late May.
At the UN Security Council meeting, the US and several other members voice condemnation of alleged incursion into Ukraine, calling for an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin offered a spirited defense, saying Kiev “is waging war against its own people.” He did deny not the presence of Russian fighters.
“There are Russian volunteers in eastern parts of Ukraine. No one is hiding that,” he said. But he questioned the presence of Western advisers and asked where Ukrainian troops were getting weapons.
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