Updated

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is heading to Moscow and Kiev to try to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean Peninsula.

UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. chief will leave New York Wednesday afternoon and meet President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday.

On Friday, Ban will travel to Kiev for talks with the acting-president and prime minister

Dujarric said the trip is part of the secretary general's "diplomatic efforts to encourage all parties to resolve the current crisis peacefully."

Ban has repeatedly called for a solution guided by the principles of the U.N. Charter including sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine.