DHAKA: UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called Monday on Russia to avoid actions that might worsen the situation in crisis-hit Ukraine.

‘I urge the Russian Federation to refrain from any acts and rhetoric that could further escalate the situation,’ Ban said to the press ahead of a scheduled meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, reports The Straits Times.

‘It is critical to ensure full respect for and the preservation of Ukraine’s independence, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,’ leaders told reporters on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

‘It is now of the utmost importance to restore calm and to de-escalate tensions immediately through dialogue,’ he said, urging Russia to ‘start to engage constructively and through peaceful means with Ukraine’.

BDST: 1839 HRS, MAR 02, 2014