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Germany’s Left party critical of ‘multinational force’ idea for Ukraine

According to Soren Pellmann, the deployment of NATO forces to ensure the security of Ukraine’s airspace would lead to the "further escalation of the situation"

BERLIN, December 16. /TASS/. Soren Pellmann, the co-leader of Die Linke (The Left) party faction in the German Bundestag, or parliament, has slammed the idea of a European "multinational force" in Ukraine and voiced support for deploying UN peacekeepers.

According to Pellmann, the deployment of NATO forces to ensure the security of Ukraine’s airspace would lead to the "further escalation of the situation."

He admitted that Ukraine has legitimate interests to be granted security guarantees but the military from the countries that have not yet played any role in the conflict should send "a much better signal."

Earlier, the Left Party called for ending the conflict as soon as possible and urged the Russian side to declare a Christmas ceasefire. Commenting on this idea, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia wants a lasting peace and is not ready to substitute that for unviable quick fix solutions.

The leaders of the European Union countries released a joint statement following their talks in Berlin on Monday. According to the document, they want security guarantees for Kiev to include the creation of "a European-led ‘multinational force Ukraine’ made up from contributions from willing nations." The statement indicates that these forces will assist "in the regeneration of Ukraine’s forces, in securing Ukraine’s skies, and in supporting safer seas, including through operating inside Ukraine.".

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