Photo from UNIAN
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin says Russia's representatives must not take part in the UN peacekeeping mission, if its deployment in eastern Ukraine is agreed upon, since the Russian troops actually occupied Donbas, according to 112 Ukraine TV channel.
"We believe that it absolutely cannot be since Russia is the aggressor country. If it is in the peacekeeping mission, this is inadmissible… Well, how Russia that actually occupied the area of Donbas, which is a mixture of conventional and hybrid occupation, could be in this mission?" Klimkin told a briefing aired on 112 Ukraine TV channel.
"Only those whom we trust and whom international society can trust may participate in this mission. We will discuss its structure later," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on August 22, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared his intention to present the idea of deploying a peacekeeping mission in Donbas at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, which launched its work in New York September 12.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on September 5 he considered the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbas "quite appropriate," but only along the line of contact and with the aim of protecting the OSCE mission. At the same time, he stressed the issue could not be resolved without direct contact with representatives of pro-Russian militants in Donbas.
Read alsoPutin to set multiple conditions for peacekeepers in Donbas – Ukraine MFAFollowing that, Russia sent a draft resolution to the UN leadership regarding the deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas.
Poroshenko, in turn, said on September 7 that the UN peacekeepers should be deployed throughout the temporarily occupied territory, including an uncontrolled section of the border with the Russian Federation.
On September 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov specified Putin's words about the deployment of peacekeepers on the contact line in eastern Ukraine. "These are not UN forces, it is precisely the mission to promote the protection of OSCE observers. It is in full accordance with the logic of the Minsk accords," he said.