(United Nations) – The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session as violence escalated in eastern Ukraine, hours before a deadline for pro-Russian protesters to lay down their arms or face Ukrainian troops. Russia called the meeting shortly after Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russian militia in an eastern city, and at least one security officer was killed and five others wounded.
Ukraine´s president accused its powerful neighbor of fomenting unrest, and announced that his government would deploy armed forces to quash an increasingly bold pro-Russian insurgency. “At this moment, Ukraine teeters on the brink,” Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told Security Council members.
Ethnic Russians in Ukraine´s east fear that the country´s new pro-Western government will oppress them, and are demanding to have referendums on autonomy and possible annexation by Russia.