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The United States says that a United Nations Security Council meeting will be an opportunity for Russia to explain itself and pursue a solution to the Ukraine situation. Russia, which has veto powers as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has indicated that it is not interested in explaining itself again to the United States. Disdain for American diplomatic efforts is beginning to seem like a feature of both sides in the Ukrainian conflict.
Russia and Ukraine complain about exaggerated fears
The United States claims that a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory could come at any moment now unless a solution to the crisis is reached quickly.
Russia has consistently denied that any such invasion is being prepared and even the Ukrainians have begun to argue that the White House is overreacting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the actions of the U.S. government and Western media coverage have actually worsened the situation for the Ukrainian people by spreading panic and damaging the economy.
Zelensky has said that his country is grateful for Western assistance, but that Ukrainians have been living with the threat from Russia for years now and NATO fears are excessive.
The bizarre situation reportedly extended to a phone call between presidents Zelensky and Biden, in which the American president was accused of lecturing his Ukrainian counterpart about an overstated danger.
Russian intentions are not entirely clear, but Biden has claimed publicly that he expects an invasion. He also suggested that if that invasion is small enough then it might be tolerated.
Unsuccessful diplomacy
Zelensky and other Ukrainians have indicated some annoyance with the fact that their own interests are being overlooked somewhat in the contest between the USA and Russia.
The Russians themselves seem to be losing interest in talks with the United States and the United Nations, given that there is evidently little to be achieved.
If Zelensky is becoming exasperated with Biden then he might be doing exactly what Vladimir Putin wanted to accomplish with the invasion threat.
Moscow would prefer to deal directly with a Ukrainian regime which is not too closely aligned with the United States or European Union.
The disjointed and chaotic response to the situation from NATO cannot be doing much to inspire confidence in Ukrainians who were interested in joining the alliance.
For Russia, perhaps the ideal outcome is a scenario in which the Ukrainian government decides that the easiest solution would be to come to an agreement without American input.
