US warns Russia against intervention in Ukraine

The United States warned Russia on Friday that any further intervention in Ukraine, including under the pretense of delivering humanitarian aid, would be viewed as ‘an invasion of Ukraine.’ US Ambassador Samantha Power delivered the warning at a Security Council meeting focusing on the human rights situation in Ukraine’s east, where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists. Recent reports by the West and the Kiev government have accused Moscow of dispatching what NATO estimates is 20,000 troops to the border. Power said Russia has not only increased aid to the separatists but has amassed ‘more and more’ troops and hardware near the border, began extensive military exercises this week and launched shells across the border into Ukraine. She noted that Russia has proposed creating ‘humanitarian corridors’ to deliver aid to the separatists. ‘The humanitarian situation needs addressing, but not by those who have caused it,’ she said. Power welcomed the Ukrainian government's creation of humanitarian corridors to get aid into separatist-controlled areas and allow civilians out, according to AP.