Donetsk, Oct 31 - DAN. UN forces can only be deployed in Donbass if Donetsk and Lugansk approve their mandate, DPR and LPR envoys to Minsk talks Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego said in a joint statement.
Their comments followed the statement by Kurt Volker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, who earlier alleged that the issue of deploying the UN mission had been settled and that the opinion of DPR and LPR was irrelevant.
“There will be no UN forces in Donbass without our consent,” Pushilin and Deinego said. “Our consent can be secured through negotiations at the Contact Group where we have full-fledged representation. If Mr Volker wishes to avoid the failure of his mission, he can turn to the Contact Group. We will review his proposals and consider to what extent they meet DPR and LPR interests.”
The Republic’s representatives also said that Volker might have made the statement because he “probably has not read the originals of the Minsk Agreements yet.” “We will send Mr Volker the copies of the Minsk agreements signed by the heads of the People’s Republics, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitskiy.
“The signatures were put in Minsk where the Donbass leaders participated in all the negotiations as equal partners invited by the “Normandy Four” countries. On this ground, DPR and LPR would continue to take part in all peace talks, whether or not Volker wishes it,” the joint statement said.*jk