UN Security Council gathers over Russian move on eastern Ukraine

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - UN Security Council members convened an urgent late night meeting Monday to discuss Russia's decision to recognize the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent states.

The meeting came at the request of Ukraine hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s recognition of the two self-proclaimed republics in a televised event.

"We very much regret this decision, which risks having regional and global repercussions," said Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, as the first speaker.

Highlighting the importance of dialogue in her remarks, DiCarlo said negotiations are the only way to address the differences among the key actors regarding regional security issues and the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The Russian move drew condemnation and threats of sanctions from the US and Western allies amid fears of a further invasion of Ukraine.

US envoy to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Putin of wanting "the world to travel back in time, to a time before the United Nations, to a time when empires ruled the world.”

She said the US will take further measures to hold Russia accountable for "this clear violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"President Putin is testing our international system. He is testing our resolve and seeing just how far he can push us all," she added.

Hours after his controversial decision, Putin ordered Russian troops to move to eastern Ukraine for the alleged purpose of peacekeeping.

French ambassador to the UN Nicolas de Riviere voiced concern over the troop dispatch, saying it "would be another flagrant violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity."

"We call on Russia to refrain from any other actions of destabilization, notably those that may undermine the security and the safety of civilian populations and put them in danger," he added.

The UK’s permanent representative to the UN, Dame Barbara Woodward, said the actions Russia has chosen today will have severe and far reaching consequences.

"The actions taken today make a mockery of the commitments Russia has made to the Budapest Memorandum and the Minsk agreements endorsed by Security Council resolution 2202," she said.

Among other speaking nations were India, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Ghana, Gabon, Norway, China, Russia and Ukraine.

India's UN ambassador TS Tirumurti said India has been "closely following" the evolving developments related to Ukraine, including those along its eastern border and the announcement by Moscow.

"The escalation of tensions along the border of Ukraine with the Russian Federation is a matter of deep concern. These developments have the potential to undermine the peace and security of the region," he said.

"We call for restraint on all sides. The immediate priority is the de-escalation of tensions, taking into account the legitimate security interests of all countries and aimed towards securing long-term peace and stability in the region and beyond.”

In his brief remarks, the representative of China to the UN, Zhang Jun, called for all parties to exercise restraint and seek "reasonable solutions" to each other’s concerns.