Contents tagged with Donbas

  • Ukrainian military command: Russian Orlan-10 military drone fell in the Donbas

    A Russian Orlan-10 model unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fell near the village of Novohradivka on Saturday, September 16 due to a technical malfunction of the system, reports the press service of the Ukrainian military headquarters in eastern Ukraine.

    According to the Ukrainian military, the air defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces carefully tracked its route, but failed to shoot down the UAV.

    "It corresponds to a model that is manufactured in Russia. The ‘Orlan-10’ is being developed by a …

  • Poroshenko: peacekeepers have to be in all of the Donbas including the areas where Russia stores weapons

    The UN peacekeeping mission should be deployed throughout the Donbas, including the territories where the Russian Federation stores weapons, as expressed by President Petro Poroshenko on his Facebook page.

    "Peacekeepers should be present everywhere, including the territories where Russia keeps weapons and on the uncontrolled part of the Ukrainian-Russian border," he wrote.

    "It would stop the flow of Russian troops, weapons, and ammunition very quickly. The potential for aggression would have …

  • Volker: deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas according to Russia’s proposal will further divide Ukraine

    The introduction of UN peacekeepers into the conflict zone in the Donbas according to the scenario proposed by Russia will aggravate the division of Ukraine, as stated by Special Envoy of the US State Department on Ukraine Kurt Volker, who arrived in Kyiv to participate in the forum "Yalta European Strategy" on Saturday, September 16.

    Volker stressed that the dispatch of peacekeepers by itself is an "interesting offer" but the international forces should replace the Russian troops in the …

  • US special representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov to meet in October

    US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will meet with Russian Presidential Advisor Vladislav Surkov again in October.

    Volker mentioned this while speaking at the 14th annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) session, organized by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation, LB.ua reported.

    “I have visited the conflict line in Adviivka… I hope to go to the city again on the Ukrainian side… As for the other side of the demarcation line, we will need to coordinate with those people – that’s why I met …

  • Kerry on the deployment of UN peacekeepers in the Donbas: We need to make sure that this is not a trap

    During the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting in Kyiv, Former US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that he  is concerned that the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission in the combat zone in the Donbas may be unsafe and turn out to be a trap.

    "[With respect to certain UN forces], you have to be really careful that it is not a trap. If you’ve got this exclusively on the line of contact, then this can conceivably become the de facto recognition of this line of contact as meaning …

  • German Foreign Minister: the EU may loosen sanctions on Russia if it fulfills its obligations regarding the peacekeepers in Donbas

    The European Union can ease sanctions if the Russian proposal for the deployment of peacekeepers to the Donbas is quickly implemented, said German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, according to Der Spiegel magazine.

    "If the deployment of peacekeepers is successful and if this can be quickly implemented, then of course we should also take action and ease sanctions," Gabriel said.

    Gabriel added that it is necessary to "quickly begin negotiations in New York" about the deployment of the …

  • LPR: introduction of peacekeepers in the Donbas is a declaration of war

    The representative of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LPR), Vladyslav Deynego stated that the US State Department proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers throughout the Donbas region would mean "a declaration of war."

    "Any attempt to promote the armed forces on the territory of another state is a declaration of war. Do they want to declare war? They will receive it," Deynego told RBC news agency.

    Deynego has not ruled out that the US State Department would give orders to the UN …

  • Washington expressed its support for deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas

    State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said that Washington is in favor of deploying UN peacekeepers to the Donbas, including on the border with Russia, and insists for them to have a broad mandate, Radio Liberty reports.

    "I want to be clear about this.  Any such forces should have a broad mandate, to ensure peace and security throughout the occupied territory of Ukraine, up to and including the border with Russia ...," Nauert said. She recalled that Germany, like the other EU states, …

  • Russia agrees to deploy peacekeepers outside the demarcation line in Donbas

    Russia has agreed that the UN peacekeeping mission should have access not only to the line of demarcation in the Donbas, but also to other territory where OSCE  conducts its inspection visits.

    This was stated in a message from the Kremlin's press service, following phone discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    "Taking into account the views expressed by Angela Merkel, the Russian leader noted his readiness to supplement the functions of the UN …

  • Zakharchenko: The ideal option for a peaceful resolution with Ukraine is independence for the DPR

    In an interview with NTV, Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has said he is not satisfied with a new law on the reintegration of the Donbas that is being prepared by the Ukrainian government.

    "The ideal option for a peaceful resolution is [for us] to gain independence, and for Kyiv to recognize it. Thus we would be able to decide for ourselves who we want to live with, how we want to live, with whom we will be friends, [and] which state to join," …