The resolution drafted by Ukraine on deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas indicates that Russia should be barred from that mission, and that peacekeepers should be stationed on the Ukrainian-Russian border, Ukrainian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko told the 112.Ukraine television channel in a statement.
“A country engaged in a conflict cannot simultaneously be a peacekeeper. This cannot be just about the OSCE monitors’ security. It would be easier to arm them than to deploy any UN military force for their protection. We do not agree that we should be coordinating the issue with representatives of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as Russia is a party to the conflict,” Yelchenko said.
Ukraine expects UN peacekeepers to be present in every part of the conflict zone, including the border; it is also essential to withdraw Russian troops from certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions before the mission is deployed, he said.
“The mission will be financed from the UN peacekeeping budget. There is a regular budget, and there is a peacekeeping budget. I have heard it will amount to at least $1 billion a year, but I am not a specialist. The mission should be mandatorily stationed throughout Donbas, primarily on the Russian-Ukrainian border. There is another matter of principle for us: all foreign troops, and the only foreign troops currently stationed there are Russian, should leave before the UN mission is put in place,” Yelchenko said.
Ukraine expects peacekeepers to have a broader mandate than the OSCE SMM observers, he said.
Yelchenko added that Ukraine might suggest another draft resolution on the peacekeeping mission. “It has already been prepared. It is in the hands of our partners. We will wait for a few days and will release our other draft if necessary. The other draft is based on the Russian document. Yet this does not mean it should be preserved as it is,” he said.
Russia has hindering the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution on the peacekeeping mission in Donbas on multiple occasions by threatening to use its veto, Yelchenko said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sept. 5 that the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbas could help settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine and ordered the Russian Foreign Ministry to submit a relevant resolution for consideration by the UN Security Council.
