Ukraine demands to call UN Security Council meeting

The Verkhovna Rada has demanded to call a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to consider the situation in Crimea.

It is reported by RIA Novosti.

Rada speaker and interim president of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov said Kyiv asked the UN Security Council to hold a meeting to monitor the situation in Crimea and take measures in case of violation of Ukraine's sovereignty.

Turchynov said the National Security and Defence Cuoncil would meet on Friday over the Crimean issue. The meeting starts at 11:00 local time.

The Ukrainian parliament also adopted an appeal to the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum (Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine's Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) demanding “practical actions” to reaffirm their obligations.

“The Verkhovna Rada urges the Russian Federation to discontinue steps aimed at encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity and not to support separatism,” Interfax-Ukraine quotes the appeal.