MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russia’s embassy in Washington said Tuesday that Moscow will not back down in the face of U.S. sanctions threats over Ukraine, ahead of a phone call between the top U.S. and Russian diplomats.
“We are not going to back away and stand at attention, listening to the threats of U.S. sanctions,” the embassy said on Facebook, adding that it is “Washington, not Moscow, that generates tensions.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken were to hold fresh telephone talks on Ukraine Tuesday.
Russia accused the West on Monday of “whipping up tensions” and said the U.S. had brought “pure Nazis” to power in Kyiv as the UN Security Council held a stormy and bellicose debate on Moscow’s troop buildup near its southern neighbor.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the U.S. of interfering in his country’s internal affairs and seeking “a classic example of megaphone diplomacy.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to visit Ukraine on Tuesday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky, and would also speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge him to “step back,” Johnson’s office said. Johnson says he is considering sending hundreds of British troops to NATO countries in the Baltic region as a show of strength.
Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress said Monday they were still divided over some of the timing in draft sanctions legislation against Russia. A Republican push to impose sanctions on a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany, Nord Stream 2, even before any new Russian push into Ukraine was a main sticking point, lawmakers said. The Biden administration argues for waiting after any invasion, saying sanctioning Nord Stream now could alienate an ally, Germany, and remove the deterrence power of that sanctions threat.
President Zelensky signed a decree on Tuesday to boost Ukraine’s armed forces by 100,000 troops over three years and raise soldiers’ pay.
Ukraine’s armed forces currently number about 250,000, compared to Russia’s overall strength of around 900,000.
On a visit to Kyiv, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Warsaw would help Ukraine with gas and arms supplies, as well as humanitarian and economic aid.
However, Zelensky has repeatedly pushed back against warnings by the United States and other NATO allies that Russia could attack Ukraine at any moment.