The United Nations Security Council(UNSC) convened an emergency meeting Monday night amid reports Russia had dispatched troops to eastern Ukraine to recognize pro-Moscow breakaway regions there.

According to the AFP, citing diplomatic sources, the meeting began as an open session upon Washington's request, while Moscow, which holds the council presidency this month, previously wanted a closed-door deliberation.

The emergency meeting convened after Ukraine's call earlier in the day to seek ways to diffuse Russian security threats, citing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.

The sixth clause in the agreement states that the signatories must consult when the security of Ukraine is under a threat.

The 1994 memorandum was signed by Russia, the U.S. and Britain to provide security assurances in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapon stockpiles -- then the world's third largest. 

The UNSC meeting commenced after Russian President Vladimir Putin, appearing on state television, recognized two regions in Ukraine occupied by pro-Russia separatists as independent and ordered Russian troops to conduct "peacekeeping" operations there.