Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has accused Russia of failing to implement the Minsk Agreements and called for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to Donbas.

"I am also displeased with the quality of the implementation of these agreements, but I am convinced that it's very hard to expect Russia to implement the agreements. Unfortunately, the Minsk Agreements don't work, because Russia doesn't want peace in Ukraine, and not because the document is bad or something else. Russia is blocking the implementation of the Minsk Agreements since it wants Ukraine to lose territory and people, and it is working on this," Poltorak said in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency and the 1+1 television channel.

"It's necessary to put heavy pressure on Russia so as to make it implement at least the first clause of these agreements. Among the options for starting at least some kind of dialogue could be the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to Donetsk and Luhansk. I spoke about this at a conference in Vancouver, Canada. There were 40 defense ministers there. I spoke and informed them of Kyiv's official position and our terms for deploying such a mission," he said.