Klimkin: Ukraine has agreed with France on peacekeeper tactics, Germany and US next in line
Ukraine has already come to an agreement with France on tactics to implement the introduction of a peacekeeping mission in the Donbas. Germany and the United States are next in line, said Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin during a broadcast on the TV channel Inter, while speaking about expectations for President Petro Poroshenko’s forthcoming visit of to Berlin.
"I expect the first thing will be a clear agreement on tactics, how we promote the peacekeepers, very clear steps. We have now come to an agreement with the French. Le Drian was there…The next step is agreement with the Americans. We have a joint vision, now there should be common tactics," said Klimkin.
Poroshenko will be in Germany on April 10. He has scheduled talks with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, New Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble.
The format for the peacekeeping mission in the Donbas has been a controversial issue for Ukraine and for Russia, which has been supporting the militants. Ukraine is counting on a full-scale mission that will take control of the entire occupied territory of the Donbas, inclusive of the state border.
In February 2018, a report from the Hudson Institute was prepared at the request of former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen concerning the potential format of a peacekeeping mission for the Donbas. The report recommends that approximately 20,000 peacekeepers and 4,000 policemen be sent to Ukraine; they will enter the entire territory of Lugansk and Donetsk territories, including the state border. Participants in the mission may be peacekeepers from non-NATO countries that are acceptable to both Ukraine and for Russia; for example, individuals from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Portugal, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, or Chile.
At present, there is an OSCE Special Monitoring Mission In eastern Ukraine consisting of about 700 unarmed observers.