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Donetsk republic considers deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas violation of Minsk deals

Minsk deals oblige Ukraine to negotiate border issues with self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed republics
Envoy of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin  Mikhail Sokolov/TASS
Envoy of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin
© Mikhail Sokolov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) considers the possible deployment of peacekeepers at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Donbas an attempt to violate the Minsk agreements, DPR envoy to Contact Group Denis Pushilin said on Thursday.

"The appeal of the Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council to UN calling for deployment of peacekeepers at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Donbas is a breach of the package of February 12 measures obliging Ukraine to negotiate border issues with self-defense forces," the Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying. "This will happen after municipal election and constitutional reform," he added.

Pushlin called on Moscow, Berlin and Paris to influence Kiev to return to the path of peaceful settlement. "DPR and LPR [self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic] ask Russia, Germany and France, as guarantors of implementing the package of measures of Minsk agreements, to take immediate measures and bring Kiev back to the path of a peaceful settlement of the conflict," he stressed. DPR and LPR authorities will send respective requests to the leaders of Russia, Germany and France.

Ceasefire in Donbas entered into force on February 15. The measure was envisaged by the Minsk agreements signed by Ukraine Contact Group on February 12 in the Belarusian capital following 16-hour long negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis settlement. According to Minsk agreements, heavy weaponry withdrawal were to be started no later than on February 16.