President Petro Poroshenko has called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed to eastern Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire.
At an emergency security meeting, he said such a force would help guarantee security "in a situation where the promise of peace is not being kept".
His comments came after Ukrainian troops withdrew from the strategic city of Debaltseve after intense fighting.
The rebel advance on Debaltseve, which came in spite of the ceasefire agreed last week, has been widely condemned.
Mr Poroshenko's request was approved by Ukraine's national security and defence council at the emergency meeting on Wednesday night.
"The issue was discussed and a decision has been taken to appeal to the UN and the EU concerning the setting up in Ukraine of a peacekeeping and security operation," council secretary Olexander Turchynov told reporters.
The move came after President Poroshenko said almost 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers had withdrawn from Debaltseve on Wednesday.
Rebel spokesman Eduard Basurin said the town was now "completely under the control" of the separatists, with just "scattered" pockets of resistance that were being "neutralised".
He claimed that more than 300 government soldiers had been taken prisoner. Ukraine's government admitted some troops were being held.
No comments:
Post a Comment