Russia asks UN to set up mission for east Ukraine

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Russia asked the UN Security Council on Tuesday to authorize the deployment of a lightly-armed mission to protect OSCE observers dispatched to monitor the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

A draft resolution obtained by AFP called for setting up the new mission for a period of six months with a mandate to ensure the safety of the observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier told a news conference in the Chinese city of Xiamen that the new mission would be "completely appropriate," but Ukraine's Foreign Ministry quickly set down conditions for the deployment. Ukraine said no Russian troops should be part of the protection force and stressed it must give its approval for the deployment.

A Ukrainian serviceman looks through a book at an abandoned library near his position on the front line in the town of Maryinka, Ukraine, on September 3, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The Russian-drafted proposal would deploy a mission "equipped with small arms and light weapons mandated exclusively to ensure security" of the observers.

The draft resolution requests that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres provide recommendations to the Security Council on the size and national composition of the force. The mission would be deployed after a "complete disengagement of the forces and equipment from the factual line of contact" between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels.

Its mandate and personnel makeup would be agreed with the government of Ukraine and with representatives from the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which are seeking to break away from Ukraine.

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said there were no immediate plans to call for a vote on the proposed resolution. "We are not talking about voting yet. We are circulating it for consideration," he told reporters.

Some 600 international OSCE observers are on the ground in eastern Ukraine, but their presence has failed to stop fighting in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since 2014.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis (R, front) and Ukraine's Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak (L, front) walk past honor guards during a welcoming ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine, August 24, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Putin warns US not to supply Ukraine with weapons

Putin said on Tuesday that any decision by the United States to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine would fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine and possibly prompt pro-Russian separatists to expand their campaign there.

On a visit to Kiev last month, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was actively reviewing sending lethal weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself, an option that former US President Barack Obama vetoed.

Putin, answering a question after a BRICS Summit in China about the possibility of the United States supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons, said it was for Washington to decide whom it sold or gave weapons to, but he warned against the move.

"The delivery of weapons to a conflict zone doesn't help peacekeeping efforts, but only worsens the situation," Putin told a news briefing.

"Such a decision would not change the situation but the number of casualties could increase."

Putin suggested that pro-Russian separatists were likely to respond by expanding their own campaign.

"The self-declared republics (in eastern Ukraine) have enough weapons, including ones captured from the other side," said Putin. "It's hard to imagine how the self-declared republics would respond. Perhaps they would deploy weapons to other conflict zones."

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters