"Ukraine takes on new important responsibilities at UN Security Council as of today – as President of the Council for the month of February. At UN we’ll continue using every opportunity to defend Ukraine against Russia’s military aggression," Poroshenko posted on Twitter.
On Tuesday, the UN Security Council held closed consultations on the situation in Donbass, calling upon the conflicting parties to immediately return to the ceasefire regime.
Ukraine accuses Russia of interference in its internal affairs and military aggression, while Russia denies any involvement in the escalation of the situation.
The UNSC presidency is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names. Ukrainian presidency is to be held until the end of February. Ukraine is one of the council's non-permanent members. The country’s membership is to end on December 31, 2017. Russia is a permanent member of the UNSC.
