Ukraine Russia news: U.N. Security Council meets

WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday that Kyiv still hopes for a diplomatic resolution with Russia even as Moscow sends more troops and weapons to its border.

“If Russia has any questions to Ukraine, it is better to meet and talk, not to bring troops to the Ukrainian borders and intimidate Ukrainian people,” said Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya at a United Nations Security Council meeting.

The Ukrainian diplomat is not a member of the council but was invited to participate as the crisis escalates at his country’s border. He pushed back on Russian claims that Kyiv was prepared to mount an attack.

“Ukraine is not going to launch a military offensive, neither in Donbass, nor Crimea nor anywhere else,” Kyslytsya said.

“The Kremlin must remember that Ukraine is ready to defend itself. At the same time we support the need to keep diplomatic channels with Russia open,” he added.

His remarks come as an estimated 100,000 troops equipped with advanced weaponry line Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia and northern border with Belarus, a Moscow ally.

“It is in the interest of everyone to prevent the war or rather to prevent the renewal of an active phase of the military ongoing aggression,” Kyslytsya told reporters at the United Nations following the two-hour meeting.

“Everyone will suffer, even if you are far away from Ukraine,” he said, referencing possible global economic repercussions from war.

The ambassadors from the U.S. and Russia clashed at the international forum, which did not yield any action or a joint statement from participants.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya blamed the United States for “provoking escalation” at the border and for falsely accusing Moscow of preparing to invade Ukraine.

“You’re waiting for it to happen, as if you want your words to become a reality,” Nebenzya said in remarks directed toward U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Nebenzya called the U.S. “particularly hypocritical” for convening the U.N. Security Council.

“It’s the Americans who hold the record for having troop presences outside their territory,” he said. “The military adventures of the U.S. have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in countries where they were supposed to be bringing peace and democracy,” he added.

Thomas-Greenfield defended her decision to request the meeting on behalf of the United States.

“You’ve heard from our Russian colleagues that we’re calling for this meeting to make you uncomfortable. Imagine how uncomfortable you would be if…