Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko has said
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "cannot be a provider of good offices" in the Ukraine conflict. His comments follow remarks Ban made at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday which appeared to praise Russia.
Ban said Moscow had "a very important role to play and I really count heavily on the leadership of the Russian Federation."
The UN chief's spoken comments were slightly different from the text in his prepared speech which said Russia "has a critical role to play ... in addressing other pressing global issues, from ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, to safeguarding human rights and controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
The government in Kyiv has accused Russia of supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. "I'm completely outraged by such a statement," Yelchenko said. "I don't understand how the head of the United Nations can say such things."
The ambassador added that Ban's remarks appeared "to praise the role of the Russian Federation in settling the conflict in Ukraine, when the Russian Federation is the main player [being aggressive towards] Ukraine."
Yelchenko said he would be writing an official protest letter to the UN chief and added: "I don't think that he has any moral right anymore to say anything about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
On Thursday, Russia's state-owned Rosneft and London-based BP announced they would invest $300 million (266 million euros) in prospecting and geological data analysis.
Putin met Royal Dutch Shell chief Ben van Beurden before the energy giant signed a memorandum of understanding with Russian gas giant Gazprom on the potential construction of a major liquefied gas plant in the country.
The CEOs of France's Total, Societe Generale and JCDecaux and European multi-national Schneider Electric are participating in the forum.
Ban said Moscow had "a very important role to play and I really count heavily on the leadership of the Russian Federation."
The UN chief's spoken comments were slightly different from the text in his prepared speech which said Russia "has a critical role to play ... in addressing other pressing global issues, from ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, to safeguarding human rights and controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
The government in Kyiv has accused Russia of supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. "I'm completely outraged by such a statement," Yelchenko said. "I don't understand how the head of the United Nations can say such things."
The ambassador added that Ban's remarks appeared "to praise the role of the Russian Federation in settling the conflict in Ukraine, when the Russian Federation is the main player [being aggressive towards] Ukraine."
Yelchenko said he would be writing an official protest letter to the UN chief and added: "I don't think that he has any moral right anymore to say anything about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
On Thursday, Russia's state-owned Rosneft and London-based BP announced they would invest $300 million (266 million euros) in prospecting and geological data analysis.
Putin met Royal Dutch Shell chief Ben van Beurden before the energy giant signed a memorandum of understanding with Russian gas giant Gazprom on the potential construction of a major liquefied gas plant in the country.
The CEOs of France's Total, Societe Generale and JCDecaux and European multi-national Schneider Electric are participating in the forum.
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