Calling Russia an ‘AGGRESSOR’ hardly leaves room for compromise

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Ukrainian side’s definition of Russia as an “aggressor country” contradicts the real state of affairs in the southeast of Ukraine, where Russia is not a party to the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

“Given the position that Russia allegedly is an aggressor, of course, there is hardly room for maneuver. Because this position is absolutely contrary to the real state of affairs,”

Peskov told reporters.

“Russia is not a party to this conflict, it is, jointly with other well-known countries, a guarantor of the implementation of the basic documents, on which the whole settlement process is based and can be based in the future, the Minsk agreements,”

he said when asked to comment on media reports about the wordings allegedly contained in a Ukrainian draft UN resolution.

Peskov added that the diplomats were working on the reports and referred correspondents to the Foreign Ministry for further comments on the issue.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the United Nations to deploy peacekeeping mission in Donbas as soon as possible after a proper technical assessment.

According to reports, Kiev has already submitted its draft resolution on a peacekeeping in Donbas for the UNSC consideration. The draft allegedly contains a proposal to include the wording “operation to enforce peace,” what proves “Russia’s role as an aggressor.” Moscow has repeatedly refuted the allegations, stressing that it was not a party to the conflict in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he supported the idea of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to ensure security of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Donbas. Poroshenko called Russia’s proposal to deploy UN peacekeepers strange, but expressed readiness to discuss the deployment of such a mission in the region with the UN Security Council, and without Russia’s participation in it. He stressed that Kiev would not coordinate the parameters of work of UN peacekeepers in Donbas with local militias.

The military conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing since 2014, after the residents of Donbas refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government, which had come to power in what they perceive to have been a coup.