(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is gravely concerned over the situation in eastern Ukraine, particularly the plight of civilians trapped without basic services in the city of Debaltseve, where the rebel offensive continues and civilians are dying on a daily basis.
Ban condemned in a statement, released by his press office, in the strongest terms the reports of indiscriminate shelling and called on both sides, the rebels and government forces, to "immediately move their military positions away from densely populated civilian areas." The UN official stands with others in the international community in support of the proposal by the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for a temporary truce that would allow for immediate evacuation of civilians from Debaltseve, the statement noted.
"This proposal can only gain ground through good-fate negotiation," it added.
Furthermore, Ban reiterated his call for a sustainable cease-fire to take hold and for urgent diplomatic and political action.
The signatories of the Minsk accords and the entire international community, he said, need to assume their responsibilities to ensure that this conflict ends.
The United Nations stands ready to continue to support the consolidation of a sustainable and lasting peace process, the statement concluded.
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