BERLIN (Sputnik) — German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Tuesday that the opportunity provided by Russian President Vladimir Putin's support of peacekeeper deployment in eastern Ukraine should be seized.
"Putin publicly offered what both of us [Gabriel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel] demanded from him for weeks and months and what he had previously rejected, namely a peacekeeping mission in the east of Ukraine to implement the ceasefire. If there really is a chance, one should take advantage of it. We need more, not less detente, this is our task," Gabriel said.
Earlier in the day, Putin that he supports the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to ensure the security of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in the crisis-torn region of Donbass.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that it would hold consultations on the issue with the mission of Ukraine in New York, but refused to accept the presence of Russians in the peacekeeping mission.
