Russia, UN call for humanitarian corridors in Ukraine

Ukraine crisis

Ukraine's acting permanent representative to the United Nations, Oleksandr Pavlychenko, in an apparent bid to counter Churkin's claim of Ukrainian shelling, said Russia "continues shelling of (Ukrainian) settlements and armed forces" near their joint border.

"The number of Russian armed forces, heavy armored vehicles and troops positioned along the Russian-Ukrainian border has been constantly increasing," Pavlychenko said. "The shelling has resulted in casualties among civilians and soldiers (and) destroyed residential and administrative buildings."

He said that despite the violence, "the government of Ukraine gives due consideration to all recommendations by the United Nations; there is no humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the situation is manageable."

Pavlychenko said his government was able to fulfill all social obligations, including retirement payments, social benefits and salaries, to the residents of Donetsk and Lugansk regions "except for some small towns" which remain under control of the separatists.

"If the Russian Federation really is interested in stabilization of the humanitarian situation in the Ukraine we propose just a few easy steps to be made by Russia: stop sending mercenaries as well as weapons and ammunition to the territory of Ukraine, establish effective control over its part of the border to prevent infiltration of illegal armed troops and weapons, stop provoking instability and withdraw all military and paramilitary formations of the Russian armed forces from Ukrainian borders," he said.

The sooner those steps were taken by Russia, Pavlychenko said, "the sooner the situation in my country will stabilize and we will get back to normal life."

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said the situation in Ukraine "is a matter of deep concern to China. We hope that the international community would play a constructive role in easing the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine. We hope that the UN humanitarian agencies would strictly abide by the principles of neutrality and objectivity."

He called for a ceasefire "as soon as possible" and said conducting comprehensive dialogue represents "the only way out of the crisis in Ukraine."

"The international community should do more to promote peace and dialogue and create favorable conditions for the parties concerned to maintain dialogue and engagement, and make constructive efforts for political advancement of Ukraine crisis," Liu said.

The parties should "meet each other halfway," he said.