Issue of UN peacekeepers in Donbas postponed but remains on agenda – Reznikov

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov said this on the air of the Priamyi TV channel on Sunday evening, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

According to Reznikov, the peacekeeping mission in Donbas could become one of the issues of negotiations at the level of the leaders of the Normandy Four countries. "The UN Secretary-General should send an assessment mission, make a request for budget financing, and then the UN Security Council should support this funding," the minister said.

Reznikov recalled that the issue of peacekeepers "was once discussed by our diplomats at the UN Security Council." According to him, they discussed the nature of the mission – establishing or maintaining peace, as well as where exactly the peacekeepers would be present – throughout Donbas, on the contact line or near the border with the Russian Federation.

“There was a dispute between two positions. Of course, the Ukrainian side tried to get the maximum, the Russian side - the minimum, and theoretically they could have come to an agreement, but this didn't happen,” Reznikov said.

He stressed that Ukraine needs help, because the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission does not always cope with the situation. He believes that the issue of introducing UN peacekeepers should be discussed at the level of the leaders of the countries.

As reported, on July 11, Reznikov said that Ukraine was studying the issue of introducing peacekeepers to Donbas.

ish