"Normandy Four" discusses arming OSCE mission in Ukraine

The Normandy Quartet of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany is examining the possibility of arming a monitoring mission in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is being discussed. "It only concerns the contact line -- the line that lies between the self-defense forces and Ukrainian Armed Forces," Peskov was quoted by Tass news agency as saying.

"But this mission consists of people who are not soldiers, so there is a question regarding how they will use weapons," Peskov said.

In order to reach a successful implementation, major decisions aimed at a settlement in southeastern Ukraine should be coordinated with representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics, Peskov said.

The spokesman also accused the Kiev government of continuing to avoid contact with representatives of these regions.

Earlier in the day, a telephone conversation was held between the leaders of the Normandy Four, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

According to an online statement from the Ukrainian president, the four leaders supported the deployment of an OSCE police mission in the insurgent Ukrainian region of Donbass and the beginning of consultations on the issue.

Nevertheless, an official Kremlin statement on the conversation did not mention the deployment of a police mission, only stressing the importance of an immediate cease-fire and start of a direct dialogue between the conflicting parties. Endi