Russia to UN: Set up mission for Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS

Russia will ask the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to patrol the front line in eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Sept. 5. Putin told reporters that peacekeepers could help ensure safety for international observers who are monitoring the cease-fire.

But he insisted the peacekeepers should be deployed only along the line separating the rebel-controlled territories and the area under government control where the clashes occur. Russia’s foreign ministry will file a formal request with the U.N. Security Council, Putin said.

Ukraine's foreign ministry quickly set down conditions for the deployment. It said no Russian troops should be part of the protection force and stressed it must give its approval for the deployment.

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

The mission would be deployed after a "complete disengagement of the forces and equipment from the factual line of contact" between Ukrainian troops and rebels.