On February 17, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced he would seek a deployment of a UN-mandated peace mission to Ukraine. Following the announcement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin held discussions with the UN Secretary-General and several UN officials on the issue.
“To date, no formal request has been received from Ukraine,” Feltman said.
Feltman noted that since February 18 tensions in eastern Ukraine seem to be abating, but said that peace still remained “fragile.”
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Kiev’s proposal to deploy peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine an attempt to delay the implementation of the Minsk agreements, as the peace deal did not envisage the UN mission deployment.
The 13-point accord reached in Minsk on February 12 includes provisions on ceasefire implementation, heavy weaponry pullout, political reforms and other important steps toward reconciliation.
