To the problem of Donbass peacekeeping fit
The representatives of Russia and Ukraine have different views on the possible format of the UN mission.
Russia and Ukraine failed to narrow differences on the question of sending in the Donbass peacekeeping mission. This became clear following the meeting of the UN security Council Wednesday on reforming peacekeeping. The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said that Kyiv with 2015 beckoning, the “blue helmets” in the Donbass, but said that their mission will not be effective without “removal from the region of the foreign contingents” and the establishment of international control over the Ukrainian-Russian border. The Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Ukrainian authorities in the “prevarication” on the implementation of the Minsk agreements. The source of Kommersant, close to the Russian delegation, said Kiev had made its draft resolution on the peacekeepers only after that did Moscow. With details from new York — the correspondent of “Kommersant” Elena Chernenko.
Ukrainian theme was originally not supposed to sound at the event on Wednesday: it is called Ethiopia, which, together with other members of the African Union is seeking to bolster the peacekeeping missions in the region, which translated from diplomatic means to appeal to the international community to fork out.
On the need to allocate more money to the work of blue helmets in Africa said UN Secretary-General, antónio Guterres, about this said the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn and President macky Sall of Senegal.
However, the seventh speaker was declared the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, and he used the platform to draw the attention of the security Council in another region. Recalling that Ukraine has participated in many UN peacekeeping missions, he said: “Now we need help”.
To restore peace in our country in the spring of 2015 I have officially asked the President of the UN security Council to undertake the necessary procedures for the deployment of a peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. The situation has not improved, and now it is, as ever, urgent. If a tragedy of this magnitude does not deserve the presence of the UN, then what you may stir up the organization?Peter Presenteraient Ukraine
At the same time, Mr. Poroshenko stressed that “the path to effective peacemaking, and to resolve the situation is through the withdrawal of all foreign military personnel, mercenaries, their weapons and funds from Ukraine”. In addition, according to him, should be installed reliable international control over the Ukrainian-Russian border. Petro Poroshenko urged the security Council to send peacekeepers to the Donbas, “the sooner, the better”, and invited the UN Secretary General to start sending missions to the region for technical evaluation of the possibility of deployment of “blue helmets”.
In the security Council are now two draft resolutions on this topic — Ukrainian and Russian. Recall, September 5 with the proposal to introduce the “blue helmets” in the Donbass made by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. However, he made four reservations. First, the task of the peacekeepers, according to Mr. Putin, should become solely the security of the OSCE monitoring mission. Second, the “blue helmets” should be at the demarcation line of the opposing sides, not on the territory of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk national republics (DND and LNR).
Thirdly, the resolution of this issue may occur “only after the withdrawal of the parties and the withdrawal of heavy equipment”. And finally, fourth, to embed in the region of the contingent, the UN should establish “direct contact” with representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk. Then, after a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President admitted that peacekeepers can be on the frontline, but in the places where he leads the activities of the OSCE monitoring mission.
A draft resolution was promptly made by the Russian side for consideration of experts of the security Council. The source of Kommersant, close to the Russian delegation, said: the Ukrainian side has made its own draft resolution on the peacekeepers.
According to “Kommersant”, in it, in particular, contains the requirement to include a statement or “operation to enforce peace” or “operation to restore peace.” From the point of view of Kiev, so it will be confirmed, “the role of Russia as an aggressor”.
In addition, the Ukrainian side insists that the operation should not be prepared in haste: the deployment of a peacekeeping mission, we are convinced in Kiev, will take at least six months. “This counter-proposal they had prepared only after our initiative, and before that was engaged in populism,” — said Russian the source “b”. A source close to the UN Secretariat, confirmed to Kommersant that Ukraine had not submitted to the security Council of these documents.
The Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his speech said actually only on the reform of the Institute and the peacekeeping needs of Africa. But one paragraph, the Russian Minister is still devoted to the Ukraine. According to him, “cooperation between the United Nations and the OSCE have prospects.” “This opportunity involves the Russian initiative to establish the UN mission for the protection of the special monitoring mission of the OSCE in South-Eastern Ukraine with the aim of facilitating rigorous and comprehensive implementation of the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the internal Ukrainian crisis,” — said the Minister.
Sergey Lavrov reminded that the agreements were unanimously approved by a special UN resolution. “And to evade its performance is not good,” he said, clearly referring to his Ukrainian counterpart. We will remind, Moscow accuses Kiev of sabotaging the political part of Minsk agreements (providing for the adoption on a permanent basis the special status of DND and LNR, anchoring it in the Constitution, Amnesty and the organization of elections), insisting that only after these and several other points of the agreement can be recovered the government’s control over Ukraine’s entire Russian-Ukrainian border.
Petro Poroshenko at the time of the speech of Sergey Lavrov in the meeting room was gone, in its place sat the representative of the mission of Ukraine to the UN. However, the Russian foreign Minister came to the event just after the speeches, the Ukrainian leader and Vice-President Mike Pence.
Mike Pence also touched on the Ukrainian theme, stating that “in Eastern Europe, Russia encroaches on the sovereignty of its neighbor and is trying to force to change borders”. However, on the necessity of sending peacekeepers to the Donbass he said, dedicating a significant part of his speech, the situation around the Muslim Rohingya people in Myanmar. The participants, representing the remaining three countries of the five UN security Council — British Prime Minister Theresa may and the foreign Ministers of China and France Wang and Jean-Yves Le Drian, Ukraine had not spoken at all.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters ahead of a meeting on Wednesday, Sergei Lavrov said that the work of the security Council on the Russian draft resolution on sending peacekeepers Donbass “is not suspended”.
Earlier it was reported that Ukraine and the United States agreed to use as the basis for the Russian version of the document. “Always when there is resolution of the country who want to make suggestions on the text are invited to do so. We have sent this invitation to all our colleagues, discussed, but not yet heard anything specific about our text. Expressed, including Ukrainian partners, for obvious reasons, an abstract disagreement”, — said Sergey Lavrov. He reminded about the recent statement by the Ukrainian Deputy Minister on the issues of “temporarily occupied territories” and internally displaced persons Heorhii tuka, estimated that in Donbass it is necessary to introduce from 40 thousand to 60 thousand peacekeepers. “They just need to suppress the LC and the DNI and to set the rules that will crush the Minsk agreement”, — outraged the head of the foreign Ministry.
Georgy Tuka also said earlier that Kiev will not agree to the peacekeepers were from Russia or friendly countries. While earlier, the permanent under Secretary of the CSTO Valery Semerikov told “Kommersant” has made it clear that the bloc is ready to participate in the UN peacekeeping mission in the Donbas if it is the decision of the security Council. On Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly hosted a meeting of foreign Ministers of the CSTO and the issue of peacekeeping was, according to “Kommersant”, one of the key. The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to the Secretariat of the organization, stated that “Ukraine will not agree to the mission of the CSTO”, but admitted that Kiev can accept peacekeepers from certain countries in the bloc — for example, from Kazakhstan and Armenia. Relevant experience these countries have their representatives participated in supervised U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Elena Chernenko