AKIPRESS.COM - It is not the right moment for any United Nations peacekeeping troops to be sent to Ukraine, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.

“At this moment, it doesn't seem very practical to send troops,” Ban told Mexican newspaper Reforma, according to the Spanish text of an interview.

The UN Secretary General, who was in Mexico City to attend a conference on international development, was speaking as Ukrainian forces launched a “special operation” against protesters in the east of Ukraine.

Ban told the newspaper that any decision to send troops to Ukraine would need to be agreed by the UN Security Council. “Unless we have a clear mandate and authorization from the Security Council, I can't take any action,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a conversation with Ban Ki-moon that the United Nations and the international community should condemn the use of force by Ukrainian authorities in eastern Ukraine.