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Kremlin spokesman says status of UN mission in Donbass yet to be determined

Peskov said Putin’s conversation with Merkel about the deployment of peacekeepers came "in the furtherance of talks that have been going on to find compromises"

MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to say whether Russia will offer up its military to participate in a possible UN peacekeeping mission in Donbass.

"I cannot say this at the moment since the (mission’s) status has not yet been determined," the Kremlin spokesman said. "Nobody has dismissed the possibility of deploying certain peacekeepers, certain missions," Peskov said, referring to President Vladimir Putin’s saying certain arms for the OSCE mission in Ukraine had been discussed.

"But as this is not quite within the realm of this organization, there is no personnel eligible for this, no prerequisites, no respective guidelines, these discussions have not yielded any results," he noted.

Peskov said President Vladimir Putin’s conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the deployment of peacekeepers came "in the furtherance of talks that have been going on to find compromises." "The Russian side has repeatedly demonstrated its consistent position - flexible, yet based on the Minsk agreements," Peskov emphasized.

In a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, President Vladimir Putin agreed it might be possible to deploy UN peacekeepers not just along the engagement line in Donbass.

"In response to Angela Merkel’s ideas the Russian leader expressed a readiness to complement the functions of the UN mission described in the Russian draft of the proposed UN Security Council’s resolution," the Kremlin’s press service said. "It is presumed that the UN personnel responsible for guarding the OSCE monitors may be performing its functions not only along the line of disengagement, but at other places where the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission inspectors may be visiting in line with the Minsk package of measures."

Putin set out the Russian initiative in detail for creating a special UN mission for safeguarding the OSCE monitoring mission.