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UNITED NATIONS/MOSCOW. — Russia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday to discuss the “serious escalation of violence in Ukraine,” where security forces clashed with pro-Moscow separatists.
Diplomats said the meeting, the body’s 13th on Ukraine since the start of the crisis, would be held at 1600 GMT.
The meeting was called amid a growing insurgency in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have seized control of more than a dozen towns and cities.
Ukraine’s Western-backed government accuses Russia of fomenting the rebellion and has launched a military operation to seize control of the flashpoint town of Slavyansk.
Seven people were killed in the town yesterday, including two Ukranian servicemen shot down in two helicopters, two civilians and three pro-Moscow rebels, sources said.
Russia warned that Ukraine’s use of the army in the east would lead to catastrophe and urged the West to renounce its “destructive policies towards Ukraine.”
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin denounced what he called a “crazy punitive operation” and “a despicable act of violence.”
“We are absolutely disgusted and we are doing our best to stop this crazy tendency and turn things back to a degree of normalcy,” he told reporters.
British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the Security Council needed to keep “a very close eye monitoring events resulting from the destabilisation by Russia of eastern Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed in a phone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi the situation in Ukraine and the necessity for all concerned parties to respect this month’s Geneva agreement, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
“Both leaders have exchanged opinions on the situation in Ukraine and stressed, in particular, the necessity for all parties to respect Geneva commitments of April 17,” the Kremlin press service said.
Putin and Renzi also discussed the current issues of Russian-Italian co-operation in various arenas, including energy. On April 17 in Geneva, top diplomats from Russia, the United States, Europe and Ukraine agreed a number of measures aimed at the de-escalation of tensions in the crisis-hit country, including the disarmament of irregular militant groups and a dialogue on constitutional reforms. — AFP/RIA Novosti
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