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Transcript/ScriptWashington Week Ahead -- USAGM
HEADLINE: UN Security Council to Meet on Ukraine-Russia Tensions
TEASER: US calls for meeting to address Russian troop buildup along Ukraine’s border
PUBLISHED AT: 01/30/2022 at
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AFP/ RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/ TWITTER/”STATE OF THE UNION”/ YOUTUBE/”FACE THE NATION”
PRODUCER: Arash Arabasadi
SCRIPT EDITORS: sv; caw SR
NOTE:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AFP/ RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/ TWITTER/”STATE OF THE UNION”/ YOUTUBE/”FACE THE NATION”
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:58
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE:
UPDATE: ))
((INTRO)) [[ The United Nations Security Council meets Monday to discuss Russia’s buildup of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s border. Western and Ukrainian officials continue to be on alert for a possible invasion. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. ]]
((VAR, WOMAN WITH RIFLE IN HOME, KYIV, AFP, 01/28))
((NARRATOR))
Fifty-two-year-old Mariana Zhaglo is a mother of three. She works in marketing and lives in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Zhaglo is also a territorial defense reservist willing to fight for her country should Russian soldiers amassed on the border invade.
((Mariana Zhaglo, Ukranian Army Reservist ((WOMAN, RUSSIAN))))
“I am a soldier now, and of course, I must follow orders. Whatever the order is, I will follow it. I will not kill people, but I will protect my home.”
((VAR, RESERVISTS TRAINING, KYIV, AFP, 01/28))
((VAR, LOADING MUNITIONS, DOVER AFB, DE, AFP, 01/27))
((NARRATOR))
According to the Reuters news agency, Kyiv wants to build this reservist force to 130,000 people.
Meanwhile, the United States continues sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine following President Joe Biden’s announcement of a small troop deployment to eastern Europe. The U.S. plans to confront Russia over its actions along Ukraine’s border at a Monday meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
[RADIO TRACK: Speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the meeting comes amid multinational efforts to deescalate tensions.]
((Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations))
“The Security Council is unified. Our voices are unified in calling for the Russians to explain themselves. We’re going to go into the room prepared to listen to them, but we’re not going to be distracted by their propaganda, and we’re going to be prepared to respond to any disinformation that they attempt to spread during this meeting.”
((VAR, RUSSIAN TROOPS, ROSTOV OBLAST, RUSSIA, AFP, 01/2022))
((mandatory cg RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY))
((VAR, LAVROV AT NEWS CONFERENCE, MOSCOW, AFP, 01/30))
((mandatory cg RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY))
((VAR, RUSSIAN TROOPS, ROSTOV OBLAST, RUSSIA, AFP, 01/2022))
((mandatory cg RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY))
((NARRATOR))
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield added that a Russian attack on Ukraine is possible, saying quote, “You don’t amass 100,000 troops if you don’t have intentions to use them.”
At a recent news conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, said the Kremlin wants “mutually respectful” relations with the U.S. but added what he called NATO’s encroachment farther east as cause for Russian concern.
In Washington, Ukraine’s border has become a rare moment of political unity amid growing calls to bolster the former Soviet Republic.
[RADIO TRACK: Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rob Portman, speaking Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" says the Kremlin's actions come as Ukraine increasingly embraces the West.]
((Senator Rob Portman, Republican))
((mandatory cg TWITTER / “MEET THE PRESS"))
"America always stands for freedom. We are the country that believes people's free will ought to be respected, that sovereignty matters, that the dignity of the Ukrainian people matters, and this is what they want. Their territorial integrity is at risk right now, and it is appropriate that the free world stand by them."
((VAR, TROOPS TEST ANTI-TANK WEAPON, YAVORIV, UKRAINE, AFP, 01/28))
((NARRATOR))
Meanwhile, arms continue flowing to Ukraine like British-supplied anti-tank missiles.
[RADIO TRACK: Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” a Russian invasion could be an existential fight for Ukraine.]
((Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States))
((mandatory cg “FACE THE NATION”))
((mandatory YOUTUBE logo))
“We do not want to be part of the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire or the Russian Federation. We want to be sovereign. We are sovereign, and we are fighting for our independence. And if Ukraine will be further attacked by Russia, of course they will not stop in Ukraine, after Ukraine. So that’s why it’s in the interest of Europe and all democratic world to help us to defend ourselves but also to show that the international rule of law still works.”
((VAR, LOADING MUNITIONS, DOVER AFB, DE, AFP, 01/27))
((NARRATOR))
NATO countries continue sending material support while the NATO chief has ruled out sending troops into Ukraine in case of an invasion. The West has ruled out Russia’s demand that NATO promise never to allow Ukraine to join the alliance.
Arash Arabasadi, VOA News
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