UN chief pleads with Putin to bring troops back to Russia

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted Wednesday night pleading for Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring troops back to Russia amid an invasion into Ukraine. 

“Under the present circumstances, I must change my appeal: President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia,” Guterres said. 

“This conflict must stop now,” he added. 

The comments come after the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday night, it second one of the week. 

During the meeting, Guterres told Putin to “give peace a chance” and that “too many people have already died.”

As the countries were meeting to discuss the Ukraine-Russia situation, Putin addressed his country saying military operations were beginning in Ukraine. 

He warned any country that tried to interfere that they would face “consequences you have never seen.”

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Putin “delivered a message of war” and stated a resolution to respond to the attack would be proposed tomorrow. 

Ukraine’s ambassador told Russia’s ambassador at the meeting, “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to Hell, ambassador.”