Russia mocks US sanctions threats: ‘We learned to live with that’

Russia's top United Nations envoy has mocked persisting US-led threats of sanctions against his country amid the raging row over the Ukraine conflict, saying, “We learned to live with that.”

"We've been sanctioned so many times that we lost count," said Vasily Nebenzya during a press briefing at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday while warning of a potential backlash. "I hope they will have enough reason not to move forward with that. But that will backfire."

Nebenzya made the remarks in response to a question on how Moscow would react to the sanctions promised by Washington and its European allies.

It came a day after the Russian UN ambassador blasted the US for staging a Security Council meeting on the Ukraine crisis, accusing Washington of attempting to "whip up hysteria" in a bid to mislead the world community about the actual state of affairs around Ukraine, describing the effort as an example of “megaphone diplomacy.”

Russia's envoy: US trying to 'whip up hysteria' over Ukraine with UN meeting

Russia’s envoy to the UN says the US is trying to "whip up hysteria" by pushing for a UN Security Council meeting on the Ukrainian crisis.

Nebenzya further slammed Washington for fomenting unfounded allegations against Moscow and reiterated there was “no proof” Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, and that the talk of war by the US is “provocative.”

The American UN envoy had earlier claimed that the Russian deployment of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine's borders justified the debate at the UNSC, a notion fiercely rejected by Nebenzya, who explained that Russia had frequently deployed troops within its own territory without “causing hysterics.”

"In its explanatory note to the initiative to call today’s meeting, the US delegation said it considers the deployment of Russian troops on Russian territory a threat to international peace. It is not only inadmissible interference into the domestic affairs of our country but also an attempt to mislead the international community about the real situation in the region and the reasons for the current global tensions," Nebenzya underlined at the UNSC session as quoted by TASS news agency.

“As a matter of fact, they suggest we call a Security Council meeting over wild guesses and ungrounded accusations that we have repeatedly refuted," he added mockingly.

The development came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed his demand earlier on Tuesday for Russia to immediately de-escalate the situation on the Ukraine border.

"The Secretary urged immediate Russian de-escalation and the withdrawal of troops and equipment from Ukraine’s borders," said State Department spokesman Ned Price in a statement, referring to a telephone conversation between Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov earlier in the day to follow up on Washington’s written response to Moscow’s security proposals.

Putin slams US ignoring demands for security guarantees

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, criticized the US response later on Tuesday, insisting that Washington had ignored Moscow’s key concerns and its demands for legally binding security guarantees aimed at easing tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Putin: West ignored Russia's security concerns

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States has ignored Moscow’s key concerns in its response to Russian demands for legally binding security guarantees aimed at easing tensions with the West over Ukraine.

The US, its NATO allies, and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near Ukraine's border for a possible invasion. Moscow has rejected the allegation, saying the troop build-up is defensive as NATO has increased its activities near Russian borders.

Russia asked the United States for certain security guarantees in an attempt to defuse the escalation of tensions over Ukraine, demanding that the US-led NATO military alliance deny Ukraine membership to the Western bloc. Moscow also proposed that the US not establish any military bases in the former Soviet states that are not part of NATO, and not develop a bilateral military alliance with them. Washington rejected the proposals as “non-starters.”

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