Russia has formally submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations which calls for the deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbass in order to shield officials from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from violence.
Austria which currently chairs the OSCE welcomed the Russian proposals, according to an official cited by TASS.
Germany’s Foreign Minister also welcomed the move saying that if implemented, it could lead to a detente between Europe and Russia, paving the way for the eventually lifting of anti-Russian sanctions which the EU has enforced since 2014.
The move which calls for UN peacekeepers to engage in direct dialogue between the leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as well as the Ukrainian regime in Kiev was met with a generally positive attitude by the leaders of the Donbass Republics who have pledged to carefully review the final proposals in a spirit of cooperation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin who first discussed the proposals at the 9th annual BRICS summit in Xiamen, described Russia’s aims in the following way,
“I consider the presence of peacekeepers, or rather people who would provide security for the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission, absolutely appropriate, and see nothing wrong with it”.
The only party which has thus far expressed doubts about the peacekeeping mission is the Ukrainian regime. Vladimir Aryev, a pro-regime politician who heads Kiev’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has rejected the proposals outright, simply because they have originated from Russia.
However, the regime’s representative at the United Nations, Vladimir Elchenko stated that Kiev is willing to “work” with the proposals “at an expert level”.
The war in Donbass has raged since 2014, has killed over 10,000 according to conservative estimates while over 1 million families have been rendered homeless or displaced due to the fighting. There is absolutely no reason why UN peacekeepers should not be deployed as any positive internationalisation of peacekeeping efforts can only be helpful in shedding light on the aggressive war that Kiev has waged in the aftermath of the peoples of Lugansk and Donetsk exercising their internationally recognised right to self-determination.
Anything that international organisations such as the UN can do to help limit violence, protect OSCE observers and bring calm to the situation can only be a positive development.
The UN has not set a time to vote on the proposals but it is expected they will be discussed in depth over the coming weeks.
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