UNITED NATIONS, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is concerned with the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis as the fighting in the east spreads toward the south of the Donetsk region, the organization said.
"[Ban is] alarmed by reports that fighting in eastern Ukraine has spread southward near the border of the Sea of Azov and the Russian Federation. If confirmed, this will mark a dangerous escalation in the Ukrainian crisis,” the UN said in a statement.
“The international community cannot allow the situation to escalate further, nor can a continuation be allowed of the violence and destruction that the conflict has wrought in eastern Ukraine," Ban said in the statement.
Following the recent talks in Minsk, involving Kazakhstan and Belarus, the UN said Ban “calls for continuity of these talks, with a view to forging a peaceful way out of the conflict.” Minsk brought together the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia in their first official meeting on August 26.
“All must do their part to contribute to the peaceful resolution of this conflict, in a manner upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ban said.
On Thursday, the militia announced that they encircled the national battalions outside the small town of Ilovaisk, 35 kilometers from Donetsk, and captured the checkpoints and strongholds of Ukrainian special forces in the outskirts of the southern town of Novoazovsk on the Sea of Azov.
In mid-April, Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine after they refused to recognize the legitimacy of the coup-imposed government.
According to the United Nations, more than 2,000 people have died as a result of the confrontation, and over 4,950 people have sustained injuries in the fighting.
