US demands end to Russian intervention in Ukraine

The United States has demanded an end to Russian intervention in Ukraine and the immediate deployment of international monitors at an emergency UN Security Council session.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, yesterday said the decision by Russian lawmakers to endorse military action in Ukraine was "as dangerous as it is destabilizing."
"This intervention is without legal basis, indeed it violates Russia's commitment to protect the sovereignty territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine," she said.
"It is time for the Russian intervention in Ukraine to end. The Russian military must stand down," Power added.
"The aspirations of the Ukrainian people must be respected and political dialogue must be allowed to continue."

She called for the deployment of monitors from the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to Ukraine and backed a separate international mediation mission to Crimea.
The monitors would "provide transparency about the movement and activities of military and paramilitary forces in the region, and diffuse the tensions between different groups," Power said.
"Our paramount concerns are to end the confrontation and to find a solution that allows the Ukrainian people to determine their own destiny, their own government, their own future.