At the UN General Assembly session in New York it is unlikely that any concrete and final decision on the deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas is to be expected. The President of Ukraine will present his vision of a peacekeeping mission and its mandate, but the decision will be made at the UN Security Council meeting, where there is a serious conflict between Russia’s position and Ukrainian position and its allies, including the US.

Co-director of foreign relations and international security programs Mykhailo Pashkov gave a comment to ZIK.

According to Pashkov, it is now possible to expect the general political position to support the position of the Ukrainian side regarding the peacekeeping mission in Donbas.

“It is very important that the President of Ukraine clearly demonstrates the position of Ukrainian side regarding this issue, and the UN Member States have been clearly shown the destructiveness of the position of the Russian Federation, which has made its proposals on peacekeepers in the UN Security Council”, — stressed the expert.

If Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council will block Ukraine’s position, then this problem can be brought up for discussion to the General Assembly. However, as Pashkov stated, in any case the process is very long and it is hardly possible to rely on any collective decision.

The expert also noted that the process of deployment of peacekeepers in Donbas after the approval by the Security Council will last at least half a year. Firstly, the UN mission will arrive to Donbas and prepare a report, which will be submitted to the Secretary General. Secondly, the General Assembly will discuss the specific mandate of the mission and its financing. This procedure is rather long and fast result is impossible. “For Ukraine the most important thing is to assert its position, to persuade the participants of the General Assembly to support the Ukrainian position as it paves the way to minimize the conflict. At the same time, Russian draft resolution imitate the peacekeeping process, — Pashkov said.