Russia's UN Ambassador: US Is Egging Ukraine on

Russia’s UN ambassador has accused the United States and its Western allies of egging Ukraine toward “an armed provocation.” Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday night, Vassily Nebenzia accused Ukraine of sharply increasing shelling in residential areas of the separatist Luhansk and Donetsk regions and in Russian towns and villages near the border. He said Ukraine has concentrated a 120,000-strong military contingent along the contact line with pro-Russian separatists in the east and “subversive groups” have penetrated or tried to penetrate the territory known as the Donbas to sabotage critical infrastructure. “So it has become clear that Donbas is on the brink of a new Ukrainian military adventure as was already the case in 2014 and 2015,” he said.

Nebenzia said that’s why President Vladimir Putin announced earlier Monday that Russia will recognize Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states and is putting Russian troops into the two states as peacekeepers. The separatist authorities said Monday that at least four civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling over the past 24 hours, and several others were wounded. Ukraine’s military said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the weekend, and another serviceman was wounded Monday. Ukrainian military spokesman Pavlo Kovalchyuk insisted that Ukrainian forces weren’t returning fire. Nebenzia said Russia was open to diplomacy but wouldn't allow “a new bloodbath in the Donbas,” urging the United States and other Western nations to not worsen the situation. More from the emergency meeting here.

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