Ukraine requests UN peacekeeping forces to monitor ceasefire

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for U.N. peacekeepers to be deployed to monitor a ceasefire in east Ukraine, a proposal that pro-Russia rebels swiftly said would be in breach of a peace deal.

At an emergency meeting late on Wednesday, Ukraine's national security and defense council approved Poroshenko's request, a clear sign of Ukraine's concerns after pro-Russian rebels seized a town after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday.

Ukraine pulled thousands of troops out of the east Ukrainian town of Debaltseve on Wednesday after failing to stop an offensive by Moscow-backed rebels who said the railway hub was not part of last week's ceasefire.

The rebels denounced Poroshenko's call for peacekeepers, saying their presence would "violate" the ceasefire, negotiated in marathon talks by France, Germany, Russia andUkraine in the Belarussian capital Minsk late last week.