UN calls for dialogue over Ukraine crisis
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon is "gravely concerned" about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and called for ‘immediate restoration of calm and direct dialogue between all concerned to solve the current crisis.’ Deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for maximum restraint and appealed to all sides to work towards calming the situation, which has the "growing potential" to spark violent clashes. In a statement issued late last evening by his spokesperson in New York, Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about possible fresh clashes in strife-riven Ukraine, after, according to press reports, anti-Government protesters in the small eastern city of Slavyansk took over the main police building and constructed barricades along roads leading into the town, which is located some 90 miles from the Russian border. The Secretary-General stresses that further disturbances will not serve the interests of any side. He therefore appeals to all sides to work towards calming the situation, adhere to the rule of law and exercise maximum restraint. Calling once again for urgent and constructive dialogue to deescalate the situation and address all differences, Mr Ban Ki-moon also stressed that the United Nations stands ready to continue to support a peaceful resolution to the current crisis facing Ukraine. Months of political unrest in Ukraine led to the removal by Parliament of President Viktor Yanukovych in February, followed by increased tensions in the country's autonomous region of Crimea, where additional Russian military were subsequently deployed and a secession referendum was held in mid-March, in which the majority of the region's people voted to join Russia. Mr. Ban and other senior UN officials have been leading the push for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. After returning from a visit to both Ukraine and Russia in late March, he called for a solution based on the principles of the UN Charter and warned the concerned parties -- and the wider international community -- that "at this time of heightened tensions, even small sparks can ignite larger flames of unintended consequences." Pro-Russian forces have targeted several cities in eastern Ukraine in the past week. Ukraine on Sunday launched an "anti-terrorist operation" against pro-Russian gunmen holed up in a police station in the restive east, as Washington warned Moscow to de-escalate the crisis or face the consequences. Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on Facebook that units from "all of the country's force structures" were taking part in the operation in the poor mining town of Slavyansk. He later said the gunmen had opened fire on special forces and were "shooting to kill". With military precision and dressed in unmarked fatigues, heavily armed militants on Saturday launched a series of attacks against security buildings in the tinderbox eastern rust belt. This came after a week of soaring tensions as pro-Russians demanding greater autonomy, or to join nearby Russia, stepped up protests in the region. Avakov said the events were seen in Kiev as an "act of aggression" by Russia, which has flatly denied any role in the unrest sweeping Ukraine's east. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday phoned his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and "made clear that if Russia did not take steps to de-escalate in eastern Ukraine and move its troops back from Ukraine's border, there would be additional consequences", a senior State Department official said.
