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Ukraine's president requests UNSC to deploy UN mission to Donbass as soon as possible

The Ukrainian leader added that Kiev was ready to take part in the process

UNITED NATIONS, September 20. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has called on the UN Security Council to deploy a UN mission to Donbass.

"I would like to reaffirm my request to this Council to deploy peacekeepers in Donbas - we need to move forward on this track, the sooner - the better," he said. "I therefore welcome the start of exchange among Council members on the way forward. Ukraine is ready to participate constructively," Poroshenko said at a UN Security Council debate held during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

He also reaffirmed "the invitation to the Secretary General to exercise his authority under the Charter and to send a Technical Assessment Mission to Ukraine." "Based on the mission’s analysis, possible options of the UN political and security presence in Donbas should be elaborated and presented for further consideration to the Security Council," Poroshenko said.

Russia’s initiative

On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin handed instructions to the Foreign Ministry to submit a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council, stipulating the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbass in order to ensure the OSCE mission members’ security. Putin pointed out that the deployment of the UN forces would become possible only after the weapons withdrawal process completed and the issue was agreed on with the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. The Russian president said that the deployment of the UN forces could help resolve the Ukrainian issue.

However, the Ukrainian authorities immediately expressed discontent with the format of the Donbass peacekeeping mission put forward by the Russian President. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who represents Kiev in the Contact Group on resolving the crisis, said that peacekeeping units should be deployed to the entire conflict-affected area, particularly to the territory not controlled by Kiev, "and by all means, to the Ukrainian-Russian border."

On September 11, in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin agreed it might be possible to deploy UN peacekeepers not only along the line of contact in Donbass.