Vassily Nebenzia said U.S. talk of war was “provocative,” that Russia frequently deployed troops in its own territory, and that Ukraine’s crisis was a domestic issue.

“The provocation’s from Russia, not from us or other members of this council,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

China urged all parties to not aggravate the situation and said it did not view Russia’s troops near the border as a threat.

Although Russia, which seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and backs pro-Russian rebels fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine, denies planning further incursion, it is demanding sweeping security guarantees including a promise NATO never admit Ukraine.

It sent a follow-up to a written proposal made by the United States last week, according to the State Department. Washington did not comment on Monday on the content of the response, saying “it would be unproductive to negotiate in public.”

Meanwhile, leaders are continuing their diplomatic push with phone calls and meetings to try to defuse the situation.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set travel to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

On a call between French President Emmanuel Macron and Putin, the pair said they wanted to maintain a dialogue on implementing the Minsk agreements regarding Donbass, a region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow has backed separatist fighters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to speak by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, a State Department spokesperson said.