Russia submits its own resolution to UN Security Council on deploying peacekeepers in Donbas
Russia has sent the head of the UN Security Council a draft resolution on bringing a peacekeeping mission to the Donbas, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya announced on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.
“Today we have sent the relevant draft resolution to the chairman of the UN Security Council and the secretary-general. We hope that soon it will be distributed among the council members. We intend to hold the relevant consultations on the expert level, and then, after the return of the UN Security Council mission from Ethiopia, on the permanent representative level,” Nebenzya announced.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would agree to peacekeepers only on the demarcation line, but not on the border with Russia, and only to ensure the safety of OSCE observers.
Putin emphasized that it would only be possible to deploy UN forces after weapons had been withdrawn, and only with the consent of the representatives of the illegal LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) and DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) armed groups.
In response, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry named its demands which would have to be met for a peacekeeping mission to be introduced in the Donbas. Its demands include the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Donbas and the absence of Russian personnel in the mission staff.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Putin’s suggestion to deploy peacekeepers only on the demarcation line distorts the very idea of introducing a peacekeeping operation, and will not serve to achieve the primary goal – establishing sustained peace and restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Ukraine has been asking for a peacekeeping mission to be brought to the Donbas for two years already.
In September, Poroshenko intends to raise this issue at the session of the UN’s General Assembly. Ukraine is willing to accept three different ways the peacekeepers could be introduced: as an OSCE police mission, a UN mission or a European police mission. The mission must be present in all the occupied territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, as well as the so-called “gray zone” and on Ukraine’s border with Russia.