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Lugansk republic head comments on possible deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbass

The Lugansk People’s Republic head says the issue can be considered only after Ukraine withdraws its troops and weapons from the engagement line

LUGANSK, September 5. /TASS/. The issue of the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbass can be put on the agenda only on condition of complete ceasefire and Ukraine’s withdrawal of all its forces from the line of engagement, Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky said on Tuesday.

"The issue of deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in Donbass can be considered only after Ukraine withdraws its troops and weapons from the engagement line and in conditions of complete ceasefire," LuganskInformCenter quoted him as saying.

According to Plotnitsky, his republic wants de-escalation of the conflict and peace settlement of the situation in line with the Minsk agreements, for which ends Ukraine must stop shelling its territory. Ukraine, however, has been repeatedly defaulting its liabilities under the Minsk package, he said citing as an example Ukraine’s frustrating disengagement near Stanitsa Luganskaya for more than 70 times.

"We must act in the interests of people living in the Lugansk People’s Republic and means that first of all we must make sure that Ukraine is ready to fulfill at least one of its liabilities," he stressed.

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.

The Package of Measures to fulfil the September 2014 Minsk agreements, known as Minsk-2, that was signed in Minsk on February 12, 2015, envisaged a ceasefire regime between Ukrainian government forces and people’s militias in the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) starting from February 15, 2015 and a subsequent withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of engagement. The deal also laid out a roadmap for a lasting settlement in Ukraine, including local elections and constitutional reform to give more autonomy to the war-torn eastern regions.