Kristina Kvien has a lot on her hands. She’s the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, or chargé d'affaires. She’s been staying on top of the crisis created by Russia deploying some 130,000 troops near the country. That carries with it the implicit threat of invasion if Moscow doesn’t get its way.
"It’s a concerning situation," she told Fox News, "because we’ve also seen very strong rhetoric from the Russians, and we have also seen their demands."
In the last few days, she’s been in charge of lowering the U.S. diplomatic profile in Kyiv, arranging for the evacuation of families of embassy workers as well as some non-essential employees. It’s been branded by the Ukrainian government as premature. The acting ambassador stands by it.
{{#rendered}}Rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine have the entire world in a chokehold — but how did this rivalry of neighbors all begin?
In Fox Nation’s new special "Fox Nation 101: The Ukraine Crisis," Russian scholar and former Moscow correspondent David Satter details the history between the two countries beginning with the birth of ancient Russian city Kyiv -- the center of contemporary Ukraine.
But the fall of the Soviet Union centuries later was the ultimate turning point, bringing freedom to Crimea and Ukraine – a nation that had differentiated itself from Russia with European influence and "national feelings," Satter said.
{{#rendered}}The Biden administration has developed "specific sanctions packages" for Russian elites and their family members if Moscow invades Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
During the White House press briefing Monday, Psaki told reporters that the specific sanctions efforts are "being pursued in coordination with allies and partners."
"The individuals we’ve identified are near the inner circle of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision-making or, at a minimum, are complicit in the Kremlin’s destabilizing behavior," Psaki explained, noting that "many of these invidious are particularly vulnerable targets because of their deep and financial ties with the West."
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that the U.S. observed increased Russian naval activity over the weekend.
"We have seen increasing naval activity in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic by Russian fleet vessels," Kirby said during Monday's press briefing.
Kirby said the increased activity is something the U.S. is watching closely, but noted there was no hostile activity to report as of Monday.
He added that it is clear the Russians are increasing the capabilities they have at sea in the region, but stressed the a diplomatic solution was still on the table for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during Monday's U.N. Security Council meeting that Russia's ongoing war in eastern Ukraine, which started in 2014, "has killed more than 14,000 Ukrainians."
"Nearly three million Ukrainians, half of whom are elderly people and children, need food, shelter and life saving assistance," she continued. "Devastating as this situation is, it would pale in comparison to the humanitarian impact of the full scale land invasion Russia is currently planning in Ukraine.
"Over the years, Russian leaders have claimed that Ukraine is not a real country and question its right to self-determination," she added.
{{#rendered}}Ukraine's United Nations Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, center, fist-bumps U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, after a Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters on Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold a phone call Tuesday with Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Fox News has confirmed.
Ukraine’s representative tells the U.N. Security Council Monday that “Ukraine will not bow to threats aimed at weakening Ukraine, undermining its economic and financial stability and inciting public frustration.
“This will not happen and the Kremlin must remember that Ukraine is ready to defend itself," he added. "At the same we support the need to keep diplomatic channels with Russia open.”
“If Russia has any questions for Ukraine it is better to meet and talk, not to bring troops to the Ukrainian borders and intimidate Ukrainian people,” he also said.
{{#rendered}}In a statement Monday, President Biden said "if Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith.
"If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences," he continued.
"The United States and our Allies and partners continue to prepare for every scenario," Biden added. "The world must be clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening and ready to respond to the risks those actions present to all of us."
Russia Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya is using the U.N. Security Council meeting to launch fresh attacks against Western diplomats, claiming that they are trying to will a Ukrainian war into existence.
“The deployment of Russian troops within our own territory has frequently occurred on varying scales before and has not caused any hysterics whatsoever,” he said.
Russia continues to deny that it has no plans to invade Ukraine, despite moving more than 125,000 troops to the Ukraine border and keeping them there.
“The discussions about a threat of war is provocative in it of itself,” Nebenzya said. “You are almost calling for this, you want it to happen, you are waiting for it to happen as if you want to make your words become a reality.
“This is despite the fact that we are constantly rejecting these allegations and this is despite the fact that no threat of a planned invasion into Ukraine from the lips of any Russian politician or public figure over all this period has been made – no such threat has been made,” he added.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield tells the U.N. Security Council that the “stakes for Ukraine and every U.N. member state could not be higher.”
“This is the largest mobilization of troops in Europe in decades,” she continued. “And as we speak Russia is sending even more forces and arms to join them. Russia has already used more than 2,000 rail cars to bring troops and weaponry from across Russia to the Ukrainian border.”
{{#rendered}}A fresh effort Monday by Russia to stop an ongoing meeting of the U.N. Security Council over the Ukraine crisis has failed.
Of the 15-member group, 10 nations voted in favor of proceeding with the meeting, while Russia and China voted against and three abstained.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield earlier told the U.N. Security Council that “you have heard from our Russian colleagues we are calling for this meeting to make you all feel uncomfortable.
“Imagine how uncomfortable you would be if you had 100,000 troops sitting on your border in the way that these troops are sitting on the border with Ukraine,” she added.
The U.N. Security Council is set to meet at 10 a.m. ET to discuss on the ongoing standoff along Ukraine's border.
A U.N. official will brief the 15-member group before countries like Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. make statements.
Click here to read more about the upcoming meeting.
Click here to watch on Fox News.
The U.S. and allied nations have drafted a list of Russian elites close to President Vladimir Putin to target with economic sanctions if Moscow invades Ukraine, a senior U.S. official told Reuters Monday.
"The individuals we have identified are in or near the inner circles of the Kremlin and play a role in government decision making or are at a minimum complicit in the Kremlin's destabilizing behavior," the senior administration official said to the news agency on condition of anonymity.
"Putin's cronies will no longer be able to use their spouses or other family members as proxies to evade sanctions," the official continued. "Sanctions would cut them off from the international financial system and ensure that they and their family members will no longer be able to enjoy the perks of parking their money in the West and attending elite Western universities."
{{#rendered}}Former British Ambassador to Russia Sir Andrew Wood tells GB News Monday that it would be an "extraordinarily stupid move" for Russia to invade Ukraine.
"Russia can't just take over Ukraine and hold it and live in peace," he added.
The comments come as Russia continues to keep more than 125,000 troops along Ukraine's border.
An U.S. instructor trains Ukrainian soldiers for the use of M141 Bunker Defeat Munition (SMAW-D) missiles at the Yavoriv military training ground, close to Lviv, western Ukraine, on Sunday.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., says America should be willing and able to support Ukraine in defending democracy.
{{#rendered}}The U.N. Security Council will meet at 10 a.m. ET Monday for the first time to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine situation.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said last week in announcing the meeting that the member countries “must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine , for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine."
However, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky criticized Thomas-Greenfield's announcement, writing on Twitter that "I can’t recall another occasion when a Security Council member proposed to discuss its own baseless allegations and assumptions as a threat to international order from someone else."
"Hopefully fellow UNSC members will not support this clear PR stunt shameful for the reputation of UN Security Council," he added.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. on Sunday warned that Russia's hostility toward Ukraine is not limited to any particular conflict between the two countries, but is part of a larger mission against democracy iteself.
Amb. Oksana Markarova appeared on CBS’ "Face the Nation" to discuss Russia’s massing of an estimated 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and the rising fears that Moscow is planning an invasion.
"If Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course they will not stop after Ukraine," Markarova said. "That’s why it’s in the interest of Europe and all the democratic world to help us to defend ourselves but also to show that the international rule of law still works."
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Coverage for this event has ended.