Yesterday, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council, Vassily Nebenzya, was fairly blunt: “Our Western partners talk about the need for de-escalation, but first of all themselves ramp up tension with their rhetoric and provoke an escalation. Talk about an impending war is provocative in itself. It looks like you’re calling for this, wanting and waiting for it to happen. As if you want to make your allegations a reality.” Then he invoked the “using Ukraine as a hand grenade” theory: “It seems that our American colleagues are ready to sacrifice Ukraine to their geopolitical interests.”