The United States “asked [on 1/27] that the United Nations Security Council meet publicly on Monday [1/31] to discuss…Ukraine.”…”The meeting didn’t yield any action or even a joint statement.” But, “President Biden hailed the [public] meeting as a “critical step in rallying the world.””
“U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield…said the U.S. had spent $5 billion [US taxpayer dollars] since 2014 so that Ukraine would be “prepared” for a Russian invasion.”
Therefore what? Just because you have enslaved US taxpayers from whom you can steal $5 billion, taxpayers who’d be jailed if they withheld funds from your criminal operations including annexation of one third of Syria? The UN doesn’t exist. Everyone is on the US taxpayer funded war industry gravy train which includes lavish, multi-million dollar military “exercises” (such as were held in Norway in 2018) and the latest weapons or walls on every border in the world except the US border.
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2/1/22, “Perilous Gulf Widens Between Russia & US at the UN,” Consortium News, Joe Lauria
“Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia pointed out that even Ukraine’s president had asked the U.S. not to stir up panic. “Ukraine talked of the lack of a threat from Russia,” Nebenzia said. “We should not use the rostrum of the Security Council to push forward the propaganda of our colleague,” meaning the American ambassador.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield answered Nebenzia by saying the meeting was “not about antics and not about rhetoric,” and also “not about the U.S. and Russia, but peace and security about one of our member states.” She said the U.S. had spent $5 billion since 2014 so that Ukraine would be “prepared” for a Russian invasion….
The U.S. ambassador said if the Security Council “stands for anything, [it] stands for the principle that one country cannot simply redraw another country’s borders by force, or make another country’s people live under a government they did not choose.”
As any student of recent history or any astute newspaper reader understands, the United States, with its long history of coups, including by military invasions and occupations, has made many “country’s people live under a government they did not choose.”…
Thomas-Greenfield then accused Russia of shunning diplomacy, when it was Russia who asked for diplomatic meetings with the U.S. in Geneva and NATO in Brussels….
[Russian Ambassador] Nebenzia responded by saying that Russia is witness to a “very unusual situation” even in “these crazy times.”
“Relocation of troops within our own national territory, which happened many times before on a larger or smaller scale and was never regarded hysterically,” he said, “as well as the relocation of military personnel … stationed in their garrisons rather than at the Ukrainian-Russian border, is considered by our American and Western colleagues as a confirmation of [an] allegedly planned military campaign … of Russia against Ukraine that is about to start in the next couple of weeks if not days.”
Nebenzia added: “At the same time, they provide no proof to back such grave allegations.” The U.S. has released satellite photographs of Russian military installations on Russian soil, with no indication of how close to Ukraine they are. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the press on Friday that Ukrainian intelligence interpreted the satellite images differently than the U.S. and saw no readiness for invasion.
Nebenzia said: “Our Western colleagues say that de-escalation is needed, but they are the first to build up tension, enhance rhetoric and escalate the situation. Talks about an imminent war are provocative per se. It might seem you call for it, want it and wait for it to come, as if you wanted your allegations to come true.”
He refuted Thomas-Greenfield’s assertion that Russia has threatened an invasion. “No Russian politician or public figure has uttered any threat about a planned invasion of Ukraine,” Nebenzia said. And then the Russian ambassador pointed out what no one else in the chamber would, least of all Thomas-Greenfield.
“Had it not been for our Western colleagues who provoked and supported a deadly unconstitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014 that gave power to nationalists, radicals, Russophobes and Nazis, Russia and Ukraine would have lived as good neighbors engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation up until this day,” he said.
“Someone in the West, however, seems to hate such a scenario. What happens today is another attempt to drive a wedge between Russia and Ukraine,” Nebenzia said.…
Turning the tables on the U.S., the Russian ambassador asked the council which country was the real threat to international peace and security:
“The maneuvers that the United States undertook to convene this meeting look especially inadequate and hypocritical against the fact that it is Americans who have record rates of military presence outside their national territory. American military officers, advisers, and weapons (including nuclear) are often located thousands of kilometers away from Washington. To say nothing of the fact that American military [ad]ventures claimed dozens and hundreds [of thousands] of lives of people in the countries to which they were bringing peace and democracy.
The United States repeatedly (i.a. in the recent years) used force against other states without Security Council consent. Their toolkit includes unilateral sanctions and coercive measures, as well as threats that they regard as a verdict of some sort of Supreme Court and try to make everyone deliver on them.
As reported by American experts, 84 out of 193 UN member states have been subjected to US occupation or aggression to some degree. In the course of 20th and 21st centuries, American troops have been deployed in one way or another in 191 states.
According to open-sourced data from the Internet, the United States maintains approximately 750 military bases in more than 80 states of the world. The total number of US [taxpayer funded] military servicemen abroad amounts to 175 thousand, more than 60 thousand of them are deployed in Europe. The US military budget in 2020 stood at
778 billion dollars, whereas the Russian – at only
61 billion dollars,
which is 12 times less. All these examples are clear and concrete threats to the international peace and security.”
In a right of reply, Thomas-Greenfield said she was “disappointed” by Nebenzia’s “false equivalency” — the stock line from the Cold War, which says it is false to equate U.S. behavior with the aggression of others. “There are no plans to weaken Russia,” she said. “Welcome Russia as a responsible member of the international community,” which means, of course, following the Washington Consensus.
Nebenzia then replied that he had not heard one word from Thomas-Greenfield about the Minsk agreements “and that is very indicative.”…
Between NATO and Russia
Martin Kimani, Kenya’s U.N. envoy, said what is clear to anyone who is not under the spell of the U.S.: that “the main issue in this crisis is between NATO and Russia.”
Kimani said: “Where there are disputes we support patient diplomacy as the first, second and third options.” He said “when it involves major powers there must be comprise. NATO and Russia have an opportunity to resolve their differences.”
The Kenyan envoy warned about a “new age” of “containment, provocation and proxy action.”
“We experienced that,” he said. “The Cold War deeply damaged our Africa. When elephants fight it is the grass that suffers.”
Gabon’s ambassador, Michel Xavier Biang, denounced the “alarming rhetoric of war” and pointed out what the Ukrainian ambassador would not, namely that the “Ukrainian president said to refrain from whipping up panic.”
Brazil’s permanent representative, Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, said: “Brazil…highlights the need for good-faith in order to address legitimate security concerns of all parties, including Russia’s and Ukraine’s.”
Mexico was skeptical of Russia, saying, “It was encouraging to hear from the Russian representative that he reiterated there is no planned invasion.”…
China Asks, ‘What War?’
As Russia’s most important ally, China’s U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said: “Some countries led by the U.S. have claimed that there is a looming war in Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to launch any military action. And Ukraine has made it clear that it does not need a war. Under such circumstances, what is the basis for the countries concerned to insist that there would be a war?”
Zhang said that “at a time when dialogue and negotiations are underway, and concrete progress has yet to be made, the holding of such an open meeting by the council is clearly not conducive to creating a favorable environment for dialogue and negotiations, nor is it conducive to defusing the tensions.”
Zhang also called for Russia’s concerns about NATO to be respected:
“The expansion of NATO is a problem....NATO is the product of the Cold War, and NATO expansion epitomizes bloc politics. We believe that the security of one country should not be achieved at the expense of the security of other countries. Still less should regional security rely on strengthening or even expanding military blocs. Today in the 21st century, all parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and come up with a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, with Russia’s legitimate security concerns being taken seriously and addressed.”…
It [NATO] is an organization that has ventured far outside its European theater of operations to launch aggressive actions against
Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan and
Libya,
as well as conducting drills simulating attack near Russia’s borders.”...
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“Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times.”…
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Eleven among comments
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“mgr, February 1, 2022 at 12:12
Thank you Joe. Great summary. I watched part of the proceedings. Russia’s ambassador was clear and factual. In contrast, America’s ambassador determinedly, almost comically, steered clear of anything factual in order to support her claims of unmitigated Russian aggression. Not surprising when there are no facts to support her case.
Her entire posture was simply that the US owns the United Nations and will do what it wants….
To note at home, the US has spent over 5 billion on Ukraine since fomenting a coup against its democratically elected leader in 2014 so it could lead Ukraine to its present crisis as a Washington pawn against Russia. Meanwhile the US Congress is even now hard at work, led by the Democratic controlled House, on legislation to send 200 billion more in arms and support for a war that should it come will devastate the Ukrainian people….It’s simply hard to comprehend. I guess all this money, for war at least, has just been lying around waiting for Ms. Nuland to give the word….
Does anyone still think that the US government gives a shit about its own citizens, or even for something as fundamental as infrastructure? Apparently anything that may be of any help whatsoever in supporting ordinary people is taboo. No money for that! The disdain by the US government for the American public is a truly bipartisan affair. Note that it’s the Democrats that killed “build back better” and also balked on monetary relief for covid. But OMG, they both want your vote.”…
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“Gerald, February 1, 2022 at 09:58
I’m sure the US feels ‘super confident’ that those two towering superpowers, er .. Norway and UK … are backing them to the hilt. Especially since the UK has already admitted it will send no troops to fight in Ukraine (apart from the special forces it already has there presumably) US is really in a weak position, all it has is more sanctions which will not be effective in the long run, again.”…
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“Jeff Harrison, February 1, 2022 at 09:46
Thank you, Joe. I don’t think you’ll see this kind of reportage from NYT or WaPo. Frankly, my first thought was “The US doesn’t have allies, it has hostages”.”
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“Carolyn M. Grassi, February 1, 2022 at 15:48
Thanks Jeff, and all commentators to Joe Lauria’s intelligent, comprehensive article, “a voice in the wilderness.”….No memory today, among many Americans and Western Europeans, in terms of the great sacrifice of Russian lives to defeat Hitler during WW II. The Marshall Plan should have helped them after that war…May peace prevail.”…[“The Marshall Plan was designed to push Europeans toward political and economic cooperation–-a major objective of U.S. policymakers....The Marshall Plan and other forms of foreign assistance between them cost the United States [taxpayers] $17.6 billion (or $120 billion in current [1997] value for the Marshall Plan alone)-–as we said, the largest voluntary transfer of resources in history.”]
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“Realist
What Washington really wants is to stoke the chaos, keep the animosities burning and even bring [US taxpayer funded] war to the region, all in an effort to destabilize not just Ukraine, which they’ve done doggedly if not masterfully, but also Russia, ultimately toppling its government so it can add the resulting pieces to its bloated American quasi-empire which is itself listing under chaos.
If Washington really wanted peace and prosperity for the people of Ukraine it would never have even started arming them to the teeth and endlessly instigating them to fight to “defend” themselves against their age-old “antagonists,” who also happen to be their thousand-year old closest relatives and historical allies. That sort of “Pax Americana” is truly the Devil’s work, not a real peace. Rather, Washington would have done what was best for Ukraine (not for the DC despots) and encouraged them to ratify the Minsk 2 Accords which their leaders had agreed to several years ago and then reneged upon, again under the bad advice and terrible example of the US government which repeatedly breaks its word and signed treaties itself. Some day, and it might be very soon, Washington is going to finally learn the lesson that others may fear you but they will never respect you for repeatedly breaking your word and dispensing lies when the truth is critically needed. They will stop appeasing you and make any sacrifice to defeat you. America’s last run of 5 or 6 presidents has proven over and again that its leaders are inveterate liars never to be trusted. I’d say the lesson is overdue.”
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“Sam F, February 1, 2022 at 20:19
A very good report, for which thanks.Thomas-Greenfield is clearly a trained scammer, not at all surprising, as US high office is reserved for mercenary opportunists. Not likely that anyone present or watching was fooled, nor that anyone actually believes US propaganda or its purposes.”
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“Lois Gagnon, February 1, 2022 at 18:11
Watching US officials and corporate media stooges pontificate about evil Russia’s aggression is surreal. We are truly living in Orwell’s dystopia. It’s so frustrating watching them and their “hostages” as someone so aptly put it, continue to get away with this charade. What will it take to break the spell before these nitwits get us all killed?”
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“Yolanda G. BIrdwell, February 1, 2022 at 16:14
I believe Russian position is more credible. I have seen how the West has promoted wars to keep its status. Those who don’t want war have my support. Definitely.”
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It should be noted that US President Harry Truman nowhere mentions the UN in his speech laying out The Truman Doctrine in 1947. In drafts for this address advisors to Truman referenced the UN but all such references were cut by Truman in the message presented to Congress. Such policies —and the Ukraine situation are definitely following the script—- place
the US as the sole
judge, jury and (if and when necessary) executioner.
The UN was considered by Truman to be irrelevant to US policy.”…
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“jaycee, February 1, 2022 at 12:31
The meeting was a damp squib, as the diminished attention from the corporate media demonstrates. The bellicosity and hypocrisy of the U.S. is more than obvious, as is the fact the self-proclaimed hegemon has more bark than bite these days. The non-vassal consensus that the Minsk Accords are the way forward – a UN Security Council mandated process, as the Russians pointed out – was publicly repudiated the same day by Ukraine’s own security chief, who articulated the open secret: the radical far-right faction cultivated by the US and its anglo-followers (Canada / UK) rejects the compromise, rejects a federation, and will resume a violent civil war rather than participate in a democratic process.”
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