Ukraine: United Nations Warned On 'Teetering On Brink' Situation

by Benson Agoha

* Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs

A senior United Nations official on Friday warned the security council on the precarious situation in Ukraine, official statement from the UN information Centre said.

Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs was addressing the United Nations Security Council which was gathering for the 10th in 2014 on the situation in Ukraine.

“Once again, the situation in Ukraine has seriously deteriorated…and as of now, [the country] teeters on the brink,” Mr Fernandez-Taranco said as the briefed an emergency meeting of the Council.

The situation in eastern Ukraine escalated on 6th April after two weeks of relative quiet after three cities in eastern part of the country demanded for a Crimea style referendum, with Donetsk declaring itself independent.

The senior UN official warned the Security Council saying the crisis will only deepen unless intensive efforts are made by all sides to de-escalate the situation.

He said the cities of Luhansk, Kharkiv and Donetsk and, in the last 24 hours, at least 5 other cities in Ukraine's east have been targeted by uprisings and the seizure of Government buildings.

The statement said large numbers of Russian troops deployed along the border with Ukraine, in the city of Slavyansk where the police station was seized, protesters demanded a referendum on autonomy similar to the poll in Crimea last month, in which voters opted to secede from Ukraine was evidence that the situation required urgent attention.

According to Mr. Fernandez-Taranco UN monitors on the ground have "cited armed civilians on both sides, as well as militiamen armed with AK-47's.

He said sniper riflemen were among the “well-armed and well-organized” groups that consistently reinforced barricades along roads in the cities where the uprisings had occurred and that monitors had also reported dueling protests where at least 50 people were apparently hurt.

He said "as of today, at least one Ukrainian officer had reportedly been killed in the latest round of violence, but the exact number of those injured during the skirmishes was not known as of now."

Amidst these events, Fernandez-Taranco said Ukraine's Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov had issued a decree giving the self-declared separatists until 6:00 a.m. (local time) to give up their weapons in order to avoid prosecution.

Mr. Fernandez-Taranco said that Ukrainian authorities had vowed that if illegal activities are not halted, a full scale operation, involving the Ukrainian army would be deployed.

The statement said Russia has publicly stated on more than one occasion that it would be forced to act if Kyiv were to use force against demonstrators in the east.

“The situation is therefore now more combustible than ever,” he said, emphasizing that Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon and the UN remain committed to a peaceful solution "to this ever deepening crisis". Indeed, earlier in the day, Mr. Ban had urged maximum restraint and adherence to international law.

And as the UN Secretary General appeal for direct dialogue between the parties and between Kyiv and Moscow to de-escalate the situation Mr. Fernandez-Taranco said “It has become painfully evident that the crisis will continue to deepen if intensive efforts are not urgently employed to de-escalate the situation.” 

Mr. Fernandez-Taranco warned of "potentially severe consequences," if the concerned parties – and the world – do not come together to resolve the crisis as this will affect not only Ukraine and Russia, but that European nations and the wider international community as well.

Months of political unrest in Ukraine, which started in November 2013 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, the statement said.

Mr. Ban Ki Moon and other senior UN officials have consistently called a diplomatic resolution to the crisis because “at this time of heightened tensions, even small sparks can ignite larger flames of unintended consequences.”

* Follow me on Twitter: @bensonagoha or @woolwichonline.