Ban Ki-moon's spokesman commented on Kiev's displeasure with his words

The Kiev government was outraged by remarks made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the crucial role Russia can play in ending conflicts, Reuters reports.

However, when asked about the criticism, Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "The fact is ... the Russian Federation is a permanent member of the Security Council and has a critical role to play," Dujarric said. "We're not going to walk back what we said."