MINSK, 17 November (BelTA) – German Vice Chancellor, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel called for a long-term armistice in eastern Ukraine as he talked to the media on 17 November, BelTA has learned.
“The most important task is to sign a long-term armistice,” the minister said. He remarked that the parties to the conflict do not comply with the relevant existing agreements.
Sigmar Gabriel did not rule out that the proposal to send UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Helmets) to Donbass could be put into practice in the future. He also stated that Germany and France's vision of such mission differs from Russia's concept.
“I am firmly convinced, however, that it is important to meet each other halfway, devise and define the general conditions so that such a peacekeeping mission should have a clear mandate and could monitor the armistice agreement together with the OSCE not only for a couple of hours in the daylight but also at night, when major violations take place,” the vice chancellor noted.
“If we manage to do so, we will be able to start restoring Donbass,” Sigmar Gabriel added.
