2015-02-19 08:55:00

Ukraine: Poroshenko calls for UN ceasefire monitors


(Vatican Radio) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for United Nations peacekeepers to be deployed to eastern Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire. He made the comments after a key railway hub was captured by pro-Russian seperatists following weeks of fierce fighting.

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He made the comments after a key railway hub was captured by pro-Russian separatists following weeks of fierce fighting.

Speaking at an emergency security meeting, Ukrainian President Poroshenko said a United Nations peacekeeping force would help guarantee security in a situation where in his words "the promise of peace is not being kept".

His request was almost immediately approved by Ukraine's national security and defence council as Kiev has been devastated after troops withdrew from the strategic town of Debaltseve.

Exhausted hungry men have been seen leaving Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub between the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk. Pro-Russian rebels are now hoisting a flag over the town in triumph.

DECORATION MEDAL

Poroshenko has met some of the government forces in a nearby town, armed with a medal to decorate those seen as the bravest among them.

The president confirms that he "ordered" his forces "to pull out" but denied they were surrounded by pro-Russian separatists.

It remained unclear how many of the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the eastern Ukrainian town have survived the hellish retreat under enemy fire and avoided capture.

President Poroshenko put the figure at 80 percent, but critics say the Ukrainian military has never commented on its exact troop strength and caution that he final accounting may never be known.

 

Europe's security organization OSCE has complained that rebels refused to allow its observers to monitor the Debaltseve area.

RUSSIA CRITICIZED

The West has accused Russia of supporting the rebels with arms and troops. Moscow denies those claims.

But the secretary general of the NATO military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, maintains the separatists have obtained heavy weapons. "We have seen the separatists in eastern Ukraine making advances especially in and around Debaltseve and they have used advanced weapons to attack the Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve," he said.

It's not yet known if and when a U.N. force will arrive in eastern Ukraine to observe a ceasefire that hasn't been respected in several areas.

The U.N. has expressed concern about the situation saying more than 5,600 people are now known to have died in the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists.








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