Biden told reporters this morning that "we have reason to believe that [Russia is] engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in [to Ukraine]," and that "my sense it will happen in the next several days." pic.twitter.com/apAGA81SMY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2022
Blinken to the UN: "Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine or outrageous accusations that Russia will level against the Ukraine government. We don't know exactly the form it will take." pic.twitter.com/W5TQwzgP3q
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2022
they haven't withdrawn their troops https://t.co/gVZsEaWmB9
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) February 17, 2022
Russian government operatives just bombed a kindergarten in Eastern Ukraine. The purpose of this is to provoke a response from the Ukrainians to justify a full scale invasion. This was exactly the same playbook in Georgia in 2008. https://t.co/yKtXYXcFGy
— Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) February 17, 2022
At the same meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin blamed the current situation on Kiev's alleged violations of the 2015 Minsk cease-fire agreement aimed at bringing peace to the breakaway Donbass region.He also called claims that Russia planned to invade Ukraine "baseless.""Ukraine stubbornly refuses to implement the provisions of the Minsk Agreements," Vershinin told the Council.He accused Kiev of repeated attacks on the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, causing "thousands of victims.""Ukrainian representatives keep coming up with new excuses not to implement their agreements," he said."Attempts to place the blame on Russia are futile and baseless" and aim at "shifting of the blame away from Ukraine," he said.Vershinin rejected as "a baseless accusation" claims by the United States and European allies that Moscow is seeking to fabricate a pretext to invade Ukraine.He said that Blinken's talk of an invasion scenario was "dangerous" and claimed that some Russian troops were already pulling back from the border after "exercises.""We are ready ... for very serious dialogue, not imitation dialogue," he said.
Witnesses reel after Ukraine kindergarten shelling https://t.co/fl709JJfhj
— Raw Story (@RawStory) February 17, 2022
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau -- the acting chairman of the OSCE European security body monitoring the east Ukraine conflict -- strongly condemned the attack and called for cooler heads to prevail.
"The indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas constitutes a clear violation of the ceasefire and the Minsk agreements," Rau said, referring to an international accord designed to end the war
"We call for the immediate prevention of further escalation."
JUST IN: "The evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion. This is a crucial moment," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells reporters.
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) February 17, 2022
The Russian embassy is either burning paper or electing a pope https://t.co/VJyAsmOkNQ
— Vladislav Davidzon (@VladDavidzon) February 17, 2022
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has expelled the deputy chief of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Moscow amid escalating tensions over Ukraine.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 17, 2022
Lebensraum. Shit.This was exactly the same statement word for word that the Russians used prior to invading Georgia on 2008 https://t.co/D1XZyQ505X
— Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) February 17, 2022
“There’s a little thing going on in Europe right now,” Biden tells Ohioans at his event today in Lorain, explaining one of the reasons he needs to get back promptly to DC
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) February 17, 2022
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