Russia, US exchange accusations over Ukraine at UN

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia accused the West of “whipping up tensions” over Ukraine and said the U.S. had brought “pure Nazis” to power in Kyiv as the U.N. Security Council held a stormy debate Monday on Moscow’s troop buildup near its southern neighbor. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield shot back that Russia’s growing military force of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders was “the largest mobilization” in Europe in decades. Hours later, the Russian government sent a written reply to a U.S. proposal aimed at deescalating the crisis. A State Department official declined to offer details of the response.