“The Russian government can announce today with no qualification, equivocation or deflection that Russia will not invade Ukraine. State it clearly, state it plainly to the world,” Mr. Blinken said in remarks to the United Nations Security Council. “And then demonstrate it by sending your troops, your tanks, your planes back to their barracks and hangers, and sending your diplomats to the negotiating table.”
“In the coming days, the world will remember that commitment, or the refusal to make it,” Mr. Blinken added.
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Mr. Blinken laid out what he described as a possible Russian playbook for a significant escalation of its intervention in that region, suggesting Moscow would stage a false flag attack or use misinformation to create “an invented justification for war.”
Mr. Blinken said a false flag operation could involve a “fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside of Russia” or even “a real attack using chemical weapons.”
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His surprise appearance was a dramatic gesture and a sign of high-level attention...