Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to deploy UN peacekeepers in Donbass may help lessen tensions in relations with Moscow, German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday.
“I see reports that Putin has publicly voiced an initiative to do what we with the chancellor have been insisting on for months, i.e. to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Donbass to secure the ceasefire,” he said at the current Bundestag’s last session. “This is the chance! Let us use it. We need more of the policy of detente.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia plans to submit to the United Nations Security Council a resolution on the deployment of UN peacekeepers along the line of engagement in Donbass to ensure safety of the OSCE mission. He stressed however that deployment of UN peacekeepers could only be possible after weapons withdrawal from the area and upon agreement with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics.
According to the Russian leader, the deployment of UN forces tasked to ensure the OSCE mission’s security will help solve the problem in southeastern Ukraine.