“It is disturbing to learn that the volatile security situation at the crash site continues to hamper the investigators, despite the ceasefire zone declared by the government of Ukraine around the area,” Simonovic said.
On Thursday, Russia proposed a draft press statement to the Security Council about the Ukrainian government declaring on its website that the ceasefire in the crash zone was suspended.
“We were very disturbed to see today on the official portal of the Ukrainian government an official statement that said that since the international investigators had decided to suspend their work on the crash site, the ceasefire is no longer in effect,” Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said.
Churkin added that Ukraine's mission to the UN heard of the initiative and sent a letter to the President of the Security Council saying that “the statement on the portion of the Ukrainian government was not true and that the ceasefire continues to be in effect.”
- Simonovic told the Security Council that “fighting in and around population centers has resulted in heavy loss of life and very significant damage to property and civilian infrastructure.”
- Churkin responded by saying Ukraine's air force had from “one day to the next been firing at the same semi-destroyed high rise buildings.”
http://en.ria.ru/politics/20140808/191854544/UN-Official-Says-Disturbed-by-Violence-Near-MH17-Crash-Site.html
8/8/14
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The UK and US governments have warned Russia not to use humanitarian assistance as a pretext for sending troops into eastern Ukraine....
ReplyDeleteAny such intervention would be "completely unacceptable and "viewed as an invasion of Ukraine", said the US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "I strongly urge Russia to avoid any provocative actions".
His office cited reports that Russian military vehicles had entered Ukraine.
Heavy fighting continued on Friday in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia militants.
Mr Hammond said: "I am deeply concerned by reports of an increased flow of heavy weapons crossing into Ukrainian sovereign territory from Russia and by reports of Russian armed forces exercising for a 'humanitarian intervention' in a third country.
"The conditions for such an intervention in eastern Ukraine manifestly do not exist. In these circumstances, such an intervention would be unjustified and illegal.".....................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28715467