U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield claims Vladimir Putin’s actions pose “a clear threat to international peace and security” but Russian officials accused the U.S. of “baseless allegations and assumptions.”

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has warned that enough units to “invade the whole of Ukraine” are massed on the Ukraine-Russian border as tensions show no sign of calming.

U. S. and Ukraine turn to U. N. in an attempt to further deter a Russian invasion Russia accuses the U. S. of using “baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to international order” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says there is still “time and space” to resolve Ukraine-Russian border crisis through diplomacy British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to visit Ukraine this week and will “reiterate the need for Russia to step back” in a phone call with Vladimir Putin Tensions continue to rise after Russia claims unknown military aircraft “staged a provocation” near Crimean city Sevastopol UN Security meeting was held Monday to discuss crisis in Ukraine Biden warns of “swift and severe” consequences against Russia if they invade Ukraine

Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya opposed holding the U.N. Security Council meeting.

Russia once again rejected the accusation from the U.S. and others that it is planning to invade Ukraine and that an active Russia aggression has already taken place.

Nebenzya said there is no evidence to confirm these claims and denied Russia has stirred up tensions in the region. He challenged the U.S. to show anything to support its claim.

This lack of evidence has “not prevented [the U.S.] from whipping up hysteria” that has impacted Ukraine’s economy.

Russia also accused the West of provoking escalation of tensions by talking about the threat of war.

“You are calling for this, you are waiting for this to happen,” he said. “It’s like you want your words to become a reality.”

Russia also accused the U.S. and NATO of “driving a wedge” between Russia and Ukraine by “brainwashing” Ukrainian with ant-Russia thinking.

Nebenzya said the U.S. wants to prevent the “coexistence of two brotherly peoples” in order to weaken Russia and create instability.

Finally, Russia accused the U.S. of being hypocrites for pumping Ukraine with weapons and deploying thousands of troops in foreign countries. Nebenzya also said Russia’s military budget is “12 times lower” that the U.S. military budget.

Ambassador Zhang Jun said China does not align with the U.S. claim that the deployment of Russia troops at the Ukraine border is a threat to international peace because Russia said it has “no plans” to invade Ukraine.

Zhang Jun opposed holding discussions on this matter in public, pushing for “quiet diplomacy” rather than “microphone diplomacy.”

He said this kind of open dialogue is not conducive to make concrete progress to diffuse tensions.

China also called on parties to be calm and not to aggravate tensions or hype-up the crisis, but to resolve the issue through consultations in which all sides take each other’s legitimate security concerns into account.

China’s position is to solve these tensions through the implementation of the Minsk Agreement.

Additionally, China is critical of NATO expansion, saying it epitomizes “group politics” that embodies a Cold War mentality.

Biden warned of the quick consequences that Russia would undergo if they invaded Ukraine.

“If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences.”

“Today’s Security Council meeting is a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbors,” Biden said in the statement.

Immediately following the meeting of the 15-nation council, with 10 in favor and three abstaining, the council voted to proceed with the meeting, with only Russia and China objecting.

“The situation we are facing in Europe is urgent and dangerous,” American ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in her opening remarks. “Russia’s actions strike at the very heart of the U.N. charter.”

In a segment on his show, Carlson referred to a report that Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskiy appealed to Biden to ease his message that a war was inevitable.

He went on to suggest that if Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy was trying to defuse tensions, then he has also “been compromised by Russian misinformation”.

FULL STORY: ‘We’re Agents of Putin Too!’: Tucker Carlson Mocks His Critics Over Ukraine

The group met “experts who are stepping up their support to their Ukrainian partners in response to the crisis”, with a number of measures including enhanced information sharing and advice on contingency planning being taken.

It comes after Boris Johnson told MPs “there’s a question about Hungary and what we might do there” - something that has unnerved his ally. In a news conference with his British counterpart Ben Wallace, Hungary’s Defence Minister Tibor Benko, said Hungary’s government “wasn’t against” NATO deploying troops in central and eastern European countries but opposed the idea that it was able “to perform this task on its own”.

The U.S. has also created a specific set of sanctions for both Russian elites who meet the criteria and their family members living in the States. It comes after Biden threatened to put sanctions on Putin himself last week - but it is not clear if that forms part of the latest plans.

In an interview with Sky News, she said deterring the Russian president was “the number one priority” amid escalating tensions over the build-up of troops on its border with Ukraine.

The foreign secretary also said she would announce the new legislation later this week.

In a tweet, he said made clear both sides will continue to “work hard for a political solution” to the crisis.

Biden did not offer a specific timeline or set number of troops out of the 8,500 currently on high alert, but he did seek to reiterate that there will not be American forces in Ukraine for now.

FULL STORY: President Biden Says He’s Moving Troops to Eastern Europe but ‘Not Too Many’

The aircraft was understood to be operated “in conjunction with the American Boeing RC-135W reconnaissance aircraft” but the “borders of Russian airspace were not violated,” during the exercise.

India has yet to publicly take sides on the issue - but it may not stay that way.

Downing Street officials said Johnson will “reiterate the need for Russia to step back” in a phone call with the Russian president later this week.

The document has not been shared publicly but will likely include Russia’s analysis of the Ukraine crisis.

But Russia’s deputy ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy angrily hit back against the accusation, claiming in a tweet that the U.S. had “proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions” and called on fellow members of the Council to “not support this clear PR stunt”.

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