Ukraine wants UN Security Council to visit war zone

UN Security Council members, Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 at United Nations headquarters. AP FILE PHOTO

UNITED NATIONS, United States—Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations wants to invite the Security Council to visit war-wracked eastern Ukraine in the coming months.

Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko told reporters on Thursday that “ideally” the visit to the Donetsk region would take place in the summer.

The envoy said Russia was “quite pessimistic” about the proposed trip, which is still in its planning stages, and he suggested that not all 15 council ambassadors might take part.

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Ukraine joined the Security Council in January as a non-permanent member, sitting alongside Russia which has veto power in the top UN body.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed than 9,000 people since April 2014 and revived East-West tensions in Europe.

Kiev and the West have accused Russia of supporting the insurgency in eastern Ukraine and sending regular troops across the border, claims that Moscow has repeatedly denied.

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Ukraine and Russia reached a ceasefire deal brokered by France and Germany in the Belarus capital of Minsk last February, but sporadic clashes still take place.