Finnish Foreign Minister confirms his country's readiness to participate in UN peacekeeping mission in the Donbas
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has claimed that Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini told him that Finland is ready to participate in a UN peacekeeping mission, in the case of its introduction to the Donbas.
"Our Finnish friends are essentially ready to participate in the upcoming peacekeeping operation, but now they have to put pressure on Russia so that it would be a real peacekeeping operation, not an operation to allow Russia legitimizing its protectorate in the occupied territories, freezing the situation there and creating traps in the process of deployment of such an operation," said Klimkin.
The fundamental requirement, according to Klimkin, is the deployment of peacekeepers throughout the entire territory of the Donbas, as well as the peacekeepers’ ability to gradually take control of the situation in the separatist-controlled territory.
Klimkin also said that the issue of combating hybrid threats was raised during the talks with Soini, in particular cybersecurity, combating Russian propaganda, and combating Russian attempts to destabilize the situation.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak and Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist discussed the introduction of the UN peacekeeping mission to the Donbas. It was reported that the parties agreed on all the issues raised.