UN Security Council Meeting
Ki-moon Ban, the secretary general of the United Nations urged the rest of the western powers to continue political talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin and that violence or the use of force should never be adopted as a solution despite Russia's recent activities with the pro-Russian rebels fighting against the Ukrainian government.
There have already reports that claim there are Russian troops within Ukraine's borders and the Russian military is supplying the Ukrainian rebels with their own weaponry including tanks, personnel carriers and even warplanes. NATO has announced that it is upgrading its combat readiness in Eastern Europe after hearing there are even Russian citizens who are in Ukraine fighting as members of the pro-Russia rebel forces.
Alexander Zakharchenko, a leader of the pro-Russia rebels has announced that there are thousands of Russian citizens who have taken up arms against the Ukrainian government alongside the rebels. He specifically told Russian TV that, "There have been around 3,000 to 4,000 of them in our tanks", affirming the greatest fears of many Ukrainian military leaders. It is reported that the rebel group led by Zakharchenko has captured territory in Donetsk.
Putin's administration however has continually denied all these accusations. Putin made a statement that it was up to Ukraine's own people to bring and maintain stability to their own country. At a U.N. Security Council meeting held last week, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin stated that the Ukrainian government is simply waging war with its people and the U.S. should "stop interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states."
Meanwhile, the U.S. and E.U. have heavily criticized Russia for the invasion and their continuous denials. The European powers have passed the decision to strengthen economic sanctions against Russia which include bans on officials to travel to and out of Russia. Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine however expressed that the possibility of a full-scale war between Russia and the western powers should not be overlooked.
