MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UN peacekeepers that might be sent to the southeast of Ukraine will have small arms to protect the monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the draft UN Security Council resolution prepared by Russia says.
According to the draft document, the composition of the UN mission will be approved by both the Ukrainian government and representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk breakaway regions.
Stressing the need to ensure the safety of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) observers on the actual contact line, the draft provides for establishment of the UN mission to support and protect the OSCE SMM, which will report directly to the UN Secretary General, after a full withdrawal of forces and equipment from the actual contact line, for a period of six months.
It is also expected that the UN Secretary General will prepare recommendations on the number of personnel and the national composition of the mission, which will be coordinated with the Ukrainian government and representatives of certain districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he supported the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. However, he said that it can only be about the function of ensuring the security of OSCE staff, and that peacekeepers must be on the line of delimitation and not in any other territories. Kiev also proposed its draft resolution on UN peacekeepers.
