Russia ends drills, no progress at UNSC

Russia ends drills, no progress at UNSC

The aim of the military exercise was to test combat readiness of the Russian armed forces in western and central parts of the country, reported the news agency, adding that the exercise "caused an outcry in the West and among Ukraine's new pro-European leaders."

Reuters noted that the statement from the Kremlin did not mention the transfer of Russian forces to Crimea.

For the third time in four days, the UN Security Council met late on Monday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine. The session ended without concrete results, reflecting deep divisions between the United States and other Western countries and Russia.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that overthrown Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych officially asked President of Russia Vladimir Putin to deploy Russian troops to restore law and order in Ukraine.

Churkin said that Yanukovych sent a letter with the request.

"Under the influence of Western countries overt actions of terror and violence are occurring. People are persecuted because of their language and for political reasons," the Russian diplomat quoted the letter, sent to Putin.

The letter states that for those reasons, Yanukovych decided to ask Putin to "use the armed forces of the Russian Federation in order to establish peace, law and order, stability, in defense of the Ukrainian people," news agencies reported.

Russia's goal is not to return Yanukovych to power, Churkin said, but added that he was still the legitimate president of Ukraine, whose fate should be decided by the Ukrainian people.

Churkin said that Ukraine is on the verge of civil war, adding that the western area of ​​the former Soviet republic was now in the hands of "armed extremists", reported the Ansa news agency.

He pointed out that actions of Russia in Ukraine are legitimate.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power criticized the actions of the Russian military in the region Crimea and said that they were in violation of international law. She also rejected Russian claims that ethnic Russians in Ukraine were in danger.

She added that a team of human rights observers should be sent to Ukraine and called on Russia to "immediately withdraw" the troops it had engaged.

Permanent Representative of China to the UN condemned the recent violence in Ukraine and urged all parties to respect human rights of every person, while the ambassadors of Britain and France estimated that Russia, citing the threat to Russians in the country, was looking for an excuse for military intervention in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the United States announced that because of the crisis in Ukraine, they had suspended all joint operations with the Russian military, including military exercises, scheduled conferences and docking at ports.

Ukrainian border guards said on Tuesday that Russian forces "took control of the border crossing with the Ukrainian side, which connects Russia and Crimea by ferry, and began to transport trucks with soldiers."