NEW YORK (UN), Aug. 29 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is alarmed by what seems to be a "dangerous escalation" in the crisis in Ukraine with reports of intensified fighting in the country south-east near the border with Russia, as the Security Council held emergency talks on the latest developments.

"The international community cannot allow the situation to escalate further nor can a continuation be allowed of the violence and destruction that the conflict has wrought in eastern Ukraine," Ban's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.