US Ambassador to the UN Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of invading Eastern Europe
Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Photo: Carlo Allegri / Reuters
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of invading Eastern Europe. She stated this in an interview with CNN, the transcript of which was published on the website of the permanent mission.
The interviewer drew attention to a logical inconsistency: in the West and in Ukraine they say that Moscow does not plan to show aggression, but some politicians talk about an imminent invasion.
This is how the Russians operate. They stationed these troops on the frontier. We saw them do it when they invaded other parts of Eastern Europe.
Linda Thomas-GreenfieldU.S. Permanent Representative to the UN
At the same time, the diplomat refused to explain what episodes in world history she had in mind.
The United States refused to believe in the past threat of “invasion”
On the night of Friday, February 18, The Washington Post, citing four anonymous sources in American and European government structures, reported that the United States had received intelligence that Russia's announced withdrawal of troops from the border with Ukraine was a deliberate ploy to mislead the United States. States and other world powers. According to them, Washington considered that Russian statements about the return of troops from exercises to their places of permanent deployment “may be part of a disinformation campaign designed to mislead.”
Prior to this, the American publication Politico, citing analysts, indicated that the United States did not believe in the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border with Ukraine and set a new invasion date for February 20. The publication is confident that the previously announced date of February 16 “diverted attention” from more important time frames. Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian armed forces, pointed out that it is the actions of the Russian troops after the end of the joint exercises with Belarus on February 20 that will help to understand the true intentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Also a resonant event was the tweet of the British Ministry of Defense, in which the military department published a diagram of the impending “invasion” of Russia into Ukraine. According to the map titled “Possible Axis of Invasion by President Putin”, Russian ground forces will attack Kiev and the Dnieper: from the Crimea – along the Azov coast – and from the territory of Belarus. The second phase of the attack provides for movement from the Dnieper to Vinnitsa, as well as from the Crimea towards Odessa. “Russia maintains a significant military presence (near Ukraine, — approx. Lenta.ru), with the help of which it is possible to carry out a surprise invasion,” the defense department wrote in a commentary.
U.S. statements and actions
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Russia was only looking for an excuse to attack Ukraine. He stated this at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
According to him, Russia is preparing provocations to justify the invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, Blinken noted that Washington does not know exactly how they will look.
It can be like a terrorist attack inside Russia, the discovery of a mass grave, drone strikes on civilians, fictional or real use of chemical weapons.
Anthony BlinkengUS Secretary of State
The Secretary of State expressed confidence that in response to these trumped-up provocations, the Russian government could “call emergency meetings in a ostentatious manner” and announce the need to “protect Russian citizens or ethnic Russians in Ukraine.”
Later, US President Joe Biden interrupted a trip to Ohio, explaining this by events taking place in Europe. During a speech in support of his infrastructure initiatives in the city of Loraine, the American leader said that he had to urgently leave. “The reason they [aides] told me it was time to leave — I didn’t intend to go so soon — was because of the bad weather coming to Washington. And something is happening in Europe right now,” the head of the White House announced. However, he shortened his trip by only 12 minutes.
Prior to this, Biden said that he had information about Russia conducting a “false flag” operation. He believes that this operation will become a pretext for the start of full-scale military operations.
