On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked that U.N. peacekeepers be deployed in east Ukraine. But on Thursday, Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said that calling in peacekeepers would violate the country's peace deal with pro-Moscow rebels. Both sides agreed to a cease-fire last week, though fighting has continued in some areas.
"If some other schemes are proposed, it raises the question of whether the Minsk agreements are going to be adhered to or not," Churkin told Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.
The Washington Post reports that Poroshenko spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande on Thursday. According to Poroshenko's official website, the four agreed the cease-fire measures should be enforced "strictly and in their entirety," and the four will conduct further talks later Thursday.
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The talks come after Ukrainian forces retreated from the town of Debaltseve, where they were trapped by rebel forces, on Wednesday. The Post notes that while Poroshenko requested a European Union police mission, the suggestion is "likely to be rejected by Russia," since Russia sees NATO forces on its borders as a security threat.
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