The UN Security Council's emergency talks that took place at the request of Russia hours before Ukraine begins a "large-scale anti-terrorist operation", failed to yield any tangible outcome as Moscow and the western powers traded accusations against each other for the crisis.

The special session began after UN assistant secretary-general Oscar Fernandez-Taranco opened the talks saying Ukraine "teeters on the brink" threatening to snowball into a larger international crisis.

Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN, stated:

"In the days and weeks preceding this latest development we were under the impression that at least in the contacts that we've had with the United States, of Minister Lavrov with Secretary Kerry that Secretary Kerry was genuinely interested in finding a political outcome. But whether or not this is the case -- we'll see very shortly, whether they are going to put an end to this provocation from Kiev which has taken the shape of this announcement that military force will be used insoutheastern Ukraine, or not. This is their responsibility. Clearly they're chaperoning the powers that be in Ukraine."

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Russia