UN calls for urgent start of dialogue to rebuild cohesion in Ukraine

A UN official on Wednesday called for urgent start of a comprehensive national dialogue to rebuild cohesion in Ukraine after the country's parliamentary elections.

"Discussions are underway for the formation of Government and we are hopeful that the leading coalition will be committed to the rapid implementation of the comprehensive political, legal and economic reforms to which the Ukrainian authorities have committed themselves," said Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen, UN's assistant secretary-general ad interim for political affairs.

When briefing the situation in Ukraine to the UN Security Council, Toyberg-Frandzen pointed out that the ability of the leading coalition to work constructively alongside the opposition bloc will also be key for the unity and stability of Ukraine.

Citing hostilities re-ignited in the east of the country, Toyberg-Frandzen warned of the potential to further undermine the Minsk agreements while expressing his deep concern over the possibility of a return to full-scale fighting.

"Nonetheless, the prospect that a new, reform-oriented ruling coalition will be formed, empowering it to move the country closer to a path of peace and stability, provides the avenue for all to support Ukraine out of this debilitating conflict," he said.

Earlier this week, the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine announced the official results of the country's parliamentary elections, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) welcomed as "largely upholding democratic commitments."

According to the briefing of the Security Council, this past weekend, particularly on the night of Nov. 9, hostilities were reported to be at their worst in months, with a heavy exchange of artillery shelling in and around Donetsk.

Since fighting flared in mid-April in Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions, more than 4,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of others displaced.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
13/11/14
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