Russia moving toward ‘imminent invasion’ of Ukraine: US envoy to UN

Russia is still moving toward an “imminent invasion” of Ukraine, the US envoy to the United Nations warned Thursday ahead of what is expected to be a heated meeting of the Security Council on the ongoing crisis.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend the Council meeting on Ukraine “to signal our intense commitment to diplomacy.”

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“Our goal is to convey the gravity of the situation. The evidence on the ground is that Russia is moving toward an imminent invasion. This is a crucial moment,” she tweeted.

Blinken, on his way to a security conference in Munich later this week, would appear at the UN “to offer and emphasize the path toward de-escalation, and to make it clear to the world that we are doing everything we can to prevent war,” she continued.

A senior State Department official said the US had watched with growing alarm as Russia claimed to be de-escalating Wednesday, but in fact appeared to be escalating.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reporters Thursday, said the situation bore a resemblance to the phase that preceded Moscow’s incursion into Georgia in 2008.

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