Media: Disputes surround possibility of police mission in the Donbas
According to an article written by the deputy chief editor of ZN.UA, Serhiy Rakhmanin, Kiev and Moscow have differing views concerning the amount of police required at the Donetsk and Luhansk local elections.
The smallest possible police contingent will consist of 1,500 officers while the largest will consist of 11,000 officers. Kiev is firmly against the former, while Moscow does not approve of the latter. Members of the contingent will be armed with light weapons and will make use of armored vehicles.
“Kiev is attempting to make this police mission as large as possible. If this is the case, the OSCE can request that the UN provide financial and technical advice, as well as logistical assistance in deploying the mission. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering this possibility,” the article says.
“Moscow will of course try to resist this in every possible way. The discussion will be long, arduous and substantive. The result of these discussions will depend, in equal parts, on Kiev’s insistence of their point of view and on the wisdom of both Berlin and Washington. The essential condition that Ukraine has asked for is the assurance of police security. Without this, the holding of the elections cannot even be considered. It is impossible to provide safety in Donetsk and Luhansk without the presence of the police mission and 24-hour full-scale monitoring of the borders,” Rakhmanin said.
According to him, a period of at least six months is required to deploy the police contingent.