Kiev, Feb 22 (TIWN) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kiev has been urging the international community to hold emergency talks over Russia's decision on the independent status of the rebel regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has been calling for an emergency summit of the Normandy Format, a meeting of the UN Security Council, and a special meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to address the issue, Zelensky said in a video address to the nation published on Facebook.  “The latest actions of the Russian Federation are a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state. Russia is solely responsible for the consequences of such decisions,” Xinhua news agency quoted the President as saying.