Ukrainian president asks UN to send peacekeepers to Donbas

KIEV - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on the United Nations (UN) to deploy peacekeeping troops to Ukraine's conflict-hit eastern region of Donbas, the presidential press service said in a statement on Wednesday.

"I am confident that the UN-mandated multinational peacekeeping operation with the only clear goal to restore Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity could be a decisive factor in ending the sufferings of the Ukrainian people," Poroshenko was quoted as saying at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.

Poroshenko said that the conflict that has been underway in eastern Ukraine since April 2014 has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people and left almost 25,000 others injured.

In addition, over 1.5 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict, the Ukrainian leader said.

The 73rd session of the UN General Assembly is being convened at the UN headquarters in New York from Sept. 18 to Oct. 1.