Media: USA and Russia negotiate on deployment of peacekeepers to Donbas
As Interfax-Ukraine reports, the United States and the Russian Federation are working to overcome contradictions in the issue on UN mission deployment in the Donbass. This negotiation is being conducted ahead of the negotiations round on the Donbass problem.
An unnamed source said, “So far, different views on the question of the UN contingent deployment to Donbass remain. The parties retain hope for rapprochement to the next consultations round in March.” According to that source, the main disagreements concern the territory coverage for peacekeeper mission.
The source also added, “It’s about where the mission will be stationed. The Russians insist on the demarcation line during the first stage of the deployment contingent. The Americans want to extend the mission authority over the entire territory of the Donbass, including the border line with Russian Federation that isn’t under Kyiv’s control.”
According to media reports, the next meeting of Kurt Volker, US special representative for Ukraine and Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Putin’s advisor may happen in March. The last such bilateral negotiations took place on January 26 in Dubai.