17 Sep 2017 13:53

Matviyenko sees no logic in Washington's proposal to place peacekeepers on Russian-Ukrainian border

ASHGABAT. Sept 17 (Interfax) - The U.S. initiative to place Un peacekeepers on the Russian-Ukrainian border is not logical, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.

"I see no logic in this proposal," Matviyenko told reporters during a visit to Turkmenistan on Sunday, commenting on U.S. Department of State statement that Washington favor the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission on the entire territory of Donbas, including the Russian-Ukrainian border, and giving them a broad mandate.

Matviyenko said the Russian president had earlier asked the Russian Foreign Ministry to make a request to the UN for the placement of peacekeepers in the conflict zone in Donbas.

"An OSCE mission is now working on the territory of Donbas, on the contact line, and peacekeepers are needed to ensure the security of the OSCE because the OSCE cannot provide military security to the officials involved in this mission. And the idea was to put peacekeepers on the contact line only after the withdrawal of heavy and other weapons to stop the military conflict and ensure the security of OSCE officials," Matviyenko said.

"IF OSCE officials are not only located on the contact line, but move on the territory of Donbas, "naturally, peacekeepers will accompany them on the entire territory and protect them," she said.

"And if someone dictates some other conditions, they don't understand what is happening in the conflict area," Matviyenko said.

"Those who would like to put barbed wire or a ring around the residents of the self-proclaimed Donbas and Luhansk republics or just destroy these people, I think no one can do that, that is not going to happen," she said.