U.S. ENVOY URGES PRESSURE ON MYANMAR

The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations urged the international community on Monday to “ramp up pressure” on Myanmar’s military to restore democracy at a wide-ranging news conference where she also said she hopes to work with Russia and China on some key issues.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who arrived at the U.N. last Thursday, strongly reiterated President Joe Biden’s determination to re-engage with the world and make the United States again a nation that leads.

Speaking on the first day of the U.S. presidency of the Security Council in March, she touched on a number of other global hotspots, saying the Biden administration was “disappointed” that Iran started restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities last week.

On the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, and the current military crackdown on protesters, Thomas-Greenfield reiterated U.S. support to the people of Myanmar, saying “We stand strongly with them.”

“We do have to ramp up the pressure,” she said, not only in New York but internationally to press the military to reverse the coup and restore the democratically elected government.

The Security Council adopted a statement on Feb. 4 strongly backing a return to democracy in Myanmar.

Thomas-Greenfield said the Security Council plans to hold discussions on Myanmar this month, “sooner rather than later,” and she hopes “to push for more intense discussions.“

“It is clear the world is watching the situation in Burma,” she said, using the country’s former name, “and it’s clear that we can’t sit still and watch people continue to be brutalized and their human rights to be destroyed.”