16 Apr 2015 12:10

No need for intl peacekeeping mission in Ukraine - Russian envoy to OSCE

MOSCOW. April 16 (Interfax) - Moscow still does not see the need for deploying an international peacekeeping mission in southeastern Ukraine, says Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Andrei Kelin.

"About 500 monitors are working as part of the OSCE mission, 350 are in Ukraine, and new ones are being recruited. In addition, about 40 people are about to arrive and start working. The mission is working well on the whole, and there are no reasons to seek the strengthening of some peacekeeping component. There is no such a necessity," Kelin said at an international security conference in Moscow in reply to a question from Interfax on Thursday.