UN chief to meet Russia, Ukraine FMs on Monday
February 21, 2015, 5:29 am

On Monday, Ban will first meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov [Xinhua]

As the newly brokered Ukraine ceasefire wavers, UN chief Ban Ki-moon is slated to hold talks on Monday with Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Pavel Klimkin.

Russian media reports said the UN secretary-general will hold separate talks with the two Ministers.

The UN chief has held talks with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Klimkin on Friday where he touched upon the possibility of deploying a UN peace-keeping mission in the area of the Donbass conflict.

“The UN Secretary-General told Klimkin that the United Nations would follow any decision the UN Security Council might adopt on that score,” the UN secretary-general’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the media.

Renewed fighting has occured in eastern Ukraine despite French and German efforts to revive a fresh ceasefire.

On Monday, Ban will first meet Lavrov, UN spokesperson, Farhan Haq was quoted by Tass agency.

Lavrov will attend a China-proposed open debate on Feb. 23, with the theme of maintenance of international peace and security and historical lessons.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, as well as the end of World War II.

A ceasefire brokered by Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France came into effect on Sunday. It has been broadly observed elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, and some heavy weaponry is said to have been withdrawn by both sides. But the monitoring group OSCE has been unable to reach the Debaltseve region where the Ukrainian forces have suffered a humiliating setback.

Ukraine has temporarily closed 23 of its 52 valid crossing points on the border with Russia, the Ukrainian government’s press service said Friday, without giving a reason for the move.

The closure of the crossing points included ten border checkpoints in the restive eastern Lugansk region and two in the neighboring Donetsk region, according to the statement posted on the government’s website.

Ukraine and Russia now share a land border of about 2,295 kilometers.

 TBP and Agencies