Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to deploy UN peacekeepers to Donbass may help ease tensions with Moscow, German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Tuesday, August, 5.

“I see reports that Putin has publicly voiced an initiative to do what we with the chancellor have been insisting on for months, that is to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping mission to Donbass to secure the ceasefire,” he said at the latest Bundestag’s session. “This is our chance! Let us make use of it. We need more of the detente policy.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow plans to submit a resolution to the United Nations Security Council on the deployment of UN peacekeepers along the line of engagement in Donbass to ensure safety of the OSCE mission. He stressed however that the deployment of UN peacekeepers could only be possible after the withdrawal of weapons from the area and with the consent of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics.