Russia's Interfax news agency reports that Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's press secretary has told reporters that Putin did, in fact, agree to the to deployment of an armed OSCE police mission to to the Donbass.

The mission would be deployed to ensure security during local elections in the occupied areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. However Ukraine has to pass a law formulating the special status of these areas in order for such a process to begin. This proposal has met significant opposition in Ukraine as it is regarded in some quarters as capitulation to Russian demands. Furthermore, the Russia-backed separatist leaderships have repeatedly vowed to ban most Ukrainian political parties from taking part in such elections, which would be a violation of the Minsk agreements.

Peskov said today that Putin had agreed to the deployment of such a mission "in principle." 

-- Pierre Vaux