Speaking first, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, U.N. assistant secretary-general for political affairs, set the tone for discussions, saying that Ukraine "teeters on the brink.
"However, it is not just Ukraine that will suffer from a scenario where the likelihood of further bloodshed and violent clashes grows by the hour.
"Russia, which shares a large border with Ukraine, as well as the broader European region faces spillover effect of potentially severe consequences. Such scenarios will also have repercussions for the entire international community," he said.
Ukraine and its allies blamed Russia for the unrest, while both sides agreed the situation is dangerous and should not be allowed to get any worse.
"Further escalation of this must be swiftly stopped," said Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations.
"It is the West that will determine the opportunity to avoid civil war in Ukraine," he added, calling for national dialogue.
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Russia of spreading disinformation and inciting instability.
"The human stakes of what is happening in Ukraine are extremely high. The lives of innocent civilians are at risk yet we are being bombarded by Russian disinformation and propaganda, while the Ukrainians are being confronted by incitement and violence," she said.
Power added: "This instability was written and choreographed in and by Russia."
Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev vowed not "to let the Crimea scenario repeat in eastern Ukraine," stressing that the government is readying a counterinsurgency plan to strike the "armed terrorists."
"We demand to leave us in peace," Sergeyev said. "It's really the final warning cry."
The meeting came the same day that Ukraine acting President Oleksandr Turchynov issued a promise of amnesty for pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine but warned that anyone who continues to support the takeover of government buildings would be held responsible for their actions.
The acting President added a warning to "terrorists" who did not comply, saying they would be subject to an army anti-terrorism operation if they did not comply by 2 a.m. ET Monday. Similar deadlines have been set and allowed to pass with no consequence.
"We'll not allow any repetition of the Crimean scenario in the east of Ukraine. I have signed a decree that would allow those who did not shoot at our officers to lay down their arms and leave the occupied buildings by Monday morning without fear of being prosecuted," he told a national television audience, according to a CNN translation.
Turchynov added that anyone who supports violence will be punished.
"We are ready to consider a significant expansion of regional powers of all regions and the wider reform of local self-government. However, all those supporting aggressors and occupiers in an armed struggle against our country will not escape punishment and will be prosecuted," he said.
Ukraine puts blame on Russia
Turchynov said Russia was responsible for bloodshed; at least one Ukrainian soldier was killed in clashes between pro-Ukrainian crowds and pro-Russian separatists, a high-level source in Ukraine's Security Services told CNN.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tweeted Sunday that Ukrainian authorities must "stop war against their people" and asked the U.N. Security Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to give "urgent attention" to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials placed blame for unrest in the eastern section of their country squarely on their neighbors in Russia in a written statement Sunday from Kiev.
The new Ukrainian government said the security operations were launched against terrorists who are attempting to "destroy our country."
"In the eastern regions of Ukraine, the Russian special service and saboteurs embarked on the large-scale separatist operations to seize power, destabilize the situation threatening the lives of citizens of Ukraine, as well as the separation of the regions of our country," the Foreign Ministry said.
Map: See how language, culture divide Ukraine
Giving no further details, it also said it had "concrete evidence of Russian special service involvement" in the pro-Russian protests and storming of buildings in the east in recent days and would present it at an international meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Thursday.
Ukrainian security forces launched an operation Sunday to clear pro-Russian separatists from a police headquarters in the eastern city of Slaviansk, officials said.
However, a CNN crew in the city saw no sign of a large presence of Ukrainian security forces -- with the exception of a single police car and a helicopter flying above -- nor any confrontation with the occupiers.
Gunmen dressed in camouflage had stormed and seized the police building a day earlier in Slaviansk, a town about 100 miles from the Russian border, and set up barricades around it.
'Sanctions can bite'
Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the attacks in Slaviansk were "professional" and "coordinated" -- similar to Russia's incursion into the Crimean Peninsula last month.
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