Russia: Introduction of peacekeepers in Donbas must be coordinated with DPR and LPR
According to the Kremlin, the DPR’s (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR’s (Luhansk People’s Republic) consent must be one of the conditions for peacekeeping forces to be deployed in the Donbas.
The Kremlin’s position was voiced by Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to the Russian president, RBC reports.
“The conflict in south-eastern Ukraine is something to be negotiated primarily between Kyiv and the authorities of the unrecognized republics – LPR and DPR. This is, perhaps, the core modality which would be unreasonable to reject, and which would be illogical to disengage from. This is the first, initial condition for deploying any peacekeepers,” Putin’s press secretary said.
On September 5, Putin expressed his support for the idea of deploying a peacekeeping mission in Eastern Ukraine. The relevant Russian resolution has been submitted to the UN Security Council.
However, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, speaking in the Verkhovna Rada on September 7, said that the peacekeeping mission cannot have any representatives of the DPR, LPR or Russia in the staff. Poroshenko also refused to coordinate the specifications of the mission with the “Russian militants”.