MOSCOW, April 25 /ITAR-TASS/. If violence in Ukraine’s southeast does not stop, Russia will convene an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said during a special program with Vladimir Solovyov on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
“Should what we saw today continue, should force continue to be used against the protest movement in Ukraine’s southeast, we will be convening an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council,” the diplomat said.
At the same time, Churkin admitted that the UN Security Council is split regarding the situation in Ukraine and serious actions on the settlement of the conflict cannot be expected of it.
“The Security Council is split. We can’t expect much from it,” Churkin said.
He said however that the global organization’s significance should not be downplayed either.
“The UN and its Security Council can’t be better than the world that they exist in. Very often, the UN Security Council manages to find a consensus solution. Many turn to the UN Security Council for authorization,” Churkin said.
Ukraine saw a coup in February and new people came to power amid deadly riots as President Viktor Yanukovich had to leave the country citing security concerns. Russia does not recognize Ukraine's new authorities as legitimate leaders.
The crisis deepened when Crimea, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian authorities. Crimea reunified with Russia on March 18 after a referendum two days earlier in which it overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.
After Crimea's reunification with Russia, pro-federalization protests against the new Kiev authorities erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern territories.
Parliament-appointed acting Ukrainian president Alexander Turchinov announced the start of an antiterrorism operation in the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk Region, apparently aimed to crack down on federalization supporters, on April 15.
The operation was suspended for Easter holidays but then resumed. A few protesters were reportedly killed in a clash with law enforcers and soldiers in the city of Slavyansk in the Donetsk Region on Thursday.