US representative to UN blasts Russia over Ukraine

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement that he is putting Russian troops in separatist areas of eastern Ukraine as peacekeepers, saying their presence is “clearly the basis for Russia’s attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of Ukraine.

”Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday night that this move and Putin’s earlier announcement that Russia will recognize the separatist areas as “independent states” are also an “unprovoked” attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

She said Putin is testing to see “how far he can push us all,” and all countries must stand up for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe recorded 3,231 cease-fire violations in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine from Friday to Sunday, she said.