MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Nations’ focus in Ukraine remains on encouraging implementation of the Minsk agreements and bringing humanitarian aid to the conflict-torn parts of the country, the UN spokesman said.
“Obviously we remain on the ground trying to deliver as much humanitarian aid as possible… Our focus remains on getting the parties to implement the package that was agreed to in Minsk,” the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, answering a question on whether the United States is right to provide Ukraine with armored Humvees and drones, or it should have rather sent some humanitarian aid to the conflict-torn country.
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama approved the allocation of $75 million in Department of Defense European Reassurance Initiative funds to provide additional non-lethal equipment to Ukraine. The equipment to be provided to Kiev includes drones, night vision devices, first aid kits and other medical supplies as well as military ambulances. Obama also approved the provision of 30 armoured and up to 200 unarmoured Humvees.
On Tuesday, speaking on the organization’s current focus in Ukraine, UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the UN was looking on how to assist the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in doing the job that has been mandated to it by the signatories of the Minsk Agreement.
The conflict in southeastern Ukraine began in April 2014, when Kiev launched a military campaign against independence supporters in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The United Nations estimates that over 6,000 people have died in ongoing battles.
During a mid-February meeting in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, the heads of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France came up with a set of measures to facilitate Ukrainian reconciliation. The new Minsk agreements stipulated the ceasefire in Donbas that came in force on February,15, as well as the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line between the Kiev forces and the independence supporters of southeastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and introducing amendments to Ukrainian constitution.
