Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy (Petro Poroshenko Bloc) Mustafa Nayyem has said he discussed with U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker the issue of deploying a United Nations peacekeeping mission to eastern Ukraine. According to Nayyem, a report on regulating the situation has been prepared by the U.S. Hudson Institute think tank and UN expert Richard Gowen from Columbia University.

"Volker is now one of the most informed persons about details for introducing peacekeepers to Donbas … We talked… and there is something I can divulge … On the eve of the Munich conference the Rasmussen Global published a report from the Hudson Institute about the feasibility of deploying a UN peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. What was written in the report turned out surprisingly to be close the reality of what is being discussed," Nayyem said on his Facebook page on Friday after speaking with Volker.

According to Nayyem the envisioned peacekeeping mission will be 30,000 strong, including 5,000 for active observation of the 409-kilometer long border between Ukraine and Russia, as well as a 4,000 strong military police contingent.

"Deployment of the mission will take place in several stages. There could be three stages – the start of the mission and ensuring conditions for its deployment (two months), deployment and establishing control of the Ukraine-Russia border (two months and longer) and the start of building infrastructure in order to hold local elections (up to six months)," Nayyem said.