UN Security Council holds emergency meeting amid threat of full-scale Russian invasion

The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency meeting Wednesday night following a request from the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs.

The meeting was called amid Russian military buildup in eastern Ukraine on the countries’ border, a presence that could result in a full-scale invasion. 

The meeting was called after Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance. 

“Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation,” Dmytro Kuleba tweeted. 

The meeting is set to start at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier Wednesday that Russia is at the “final point of readiness” to launch a large-scale invasion into Ukraine. 

The Pentagon confirmed earlier Wednesday that Russia appeared to be increasing troops into breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized those areas of the country as independent on Monday. 

It is the second emergency meeting called by Ukraine this week as tensions have boiled over with Russia. 

In Monday night’s Security Council emergency meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield condemned Russia and its claims troops in Ukraine would be on a peacekeeping mission. 

“He has since announced that he will place Russian troops in these regions. He calls them peacekeepers,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “This is nonsense. We know what they really are.”

“In doing so, he has put before the world a choice. We must meet the moment, and we must not look away,” she added. “History tells us that looking the other way, in the face of such hostility, will be a far more costly path.”