Minsk, Nov 18 (IANS/TASS): Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday said Western governments should acknowledge the threat arising from Kiev's plans to resume its military operation in eastern Ukraine.

Lavrov said the Ukrainian crisis had resulted from an armed anti-constitutional coup in late February after which the country found itself on the brink of a split and plunged into a civil war.

“We urge to launch an all-encompassing and inter-Ukrainian dialogue involving all the regions,” Lavrov said at a joint meeting of the collegiums of the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries.

The Russian minister said that instead of establishing stable contacts with those who do not accept the results of the armed coup, Kiev is stifling Ukraine's southeast socio-economically and is threatening to solve the conflict by force.”

“I hope that our Western colleagues who have influence on the Kiev authorities understand the danger of such developments,” Lavrov said.

According to the UN, over 4,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled as a result of clashes between the Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.

Kiev's military operation, conducted since mid-April, has been aimed at regaining control over the breakaway territories.