Russia on Thursday rejected
calls by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for the deployment
of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers to help maintain a recent
peace agreement in the strife-ridden east of the country, saying
it showed a "lack of determination" in enacting the deal.
"I think it is a bit worrying because the Minsk accords
were only signed on February 12 and these contemplate a role for
the Organisation for Co-operation and security in Europe (OCSE),
not for the UN or the EU," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin
said.
Last week Russia and Ukraine officials announced an
agreement for a ceasefire starting February 15 to stop intense
fighting between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists in
eastern Ukraine.
The peace accord brokered by German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in the Belarus
capital Minsk provides for constitutional reforms to ensure the
rights of people in eastern Ukraine are respected.
Ukraine's proposal for UN blue helmets to be deployed along
the front line and Russia-Ukriane border was also rejected by
rebel negotiator Denis Pushili.
Under the terms of the Minsk accord Kiev must agree control
of the border with the rebels only after municipal elections
have been held and constitutional reform carried out, Pushili
said.
However, deputy commander of Donetsk militia Eduard
Basurin told Russian media that he would not be opposed to the
deployment of a UN peacekeeping contingent in the area.
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