11:31 20.03.2015

Poroshenko: Peacekeeping in Donbas is Ukraine's prerogative, needs Minsk format discussion

2 min read
Poroshenko: Peacekeeping in Donbas is Ukraine's prerogative, needs Minsk format discussion

The deployment of an EU police mission or a UN peacekeeping force to Ukraine is the exclusive prerogative of the Ukrainian state, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated.

"This is the territory of Ukraine. And we hate the idea that any other state will decide if the United Nations' peacekeepers should be there or not. And we are very much interested, that it should be also a possibility for the European Union police mission – or in the United Nations Security Council, peacekeeping mission would be mostly represented by the European Union. We trust them, these are our partners. And we think this is a very effective way to solve the question," Poroshenko told Euronews in an interview published on the channel website.

He was responding to the Euronews opinion: "The problem is that it is very difficult to bring peacekeepers in the field without the consensus of the other side."

"No, we don't have any other side, this is the territory of Ukraine," the president underlined.

As the peacekeeping mission decision may be vetoed at the UN Security Council, Poroshenko suggested: "And that's why we would need to have that discussion the same way that we have in Minsk, that would be a unanimous decision, to have peacekeepers."

"And there is no argument for anybody to be against that," he remarked.

"Yes we have support, we have a confirmation" from the European Union and NATO, Poroshenko continued.

"Look, what is the problem? After the Crimea's annexation and after the occupation of Donbas, the post-war security system in the world, the global security system, are not working, why is it happening? Because unfortunately one of the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations became an aggressor," he said.

Ukraine has made "a peacekeeping request: a statement to the United Nations Security Council and to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, for opening the discussion for inviting peacekeepers in Ukraine," Poroshenko said.

"Where do we need these peacekeepers? First, on our border, because the border is a key element of the sovereignty and we need peacekeepers to close these borders to stop supplying troops, ammunition and weapons to Ukrainian territory, very simple. And second, the peacekeepers alongside the buffer zone, with the touch line which was set here just to guarantee peace and stability," he said in conclusion.

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