Putin Warns US Against Supplying Ukraine With Lethal Weapons

According to Friz, Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on the peculiarities of the presence and tasks of a possible worldwide peacekeeping mission in the Donbas means manipulating the content of the Ukrainian proposal and the reluctance of the Russian side to comply with the Minsk accords.

Last month, Mattis told reporters that he was "actively reviewing" whether to send defensive heavy weapons to Ukraine, a fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member.

In comments likely to be interpreted as a veiled threat, Putin suggested that pro-Russian separatists were likely to respond by expanding their own campaign. "They might deploy weapons to other areas of the conflict that are sensitive for those who create problems for them".

"The delivery of weapons to a conflict zone doesn't help peacekeeping efforts, but only worsens the situation", Putin said Tuesday. "Such a decision would not change the situation but the number of casualties could increase", reported Reuters.

"I will go back, now, having seen the current situation, and be able to inform the secretary of State and the president in very specific terms what I recommend for the direction ahead".

Russian officials and separatist leaders criticized Washington and Kyiv for discussing the provision of lethal weapons and rejected the assertion that doing so would not be "provocative".

Earlier, on August 22, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Ukraine would initiate the introduction of UN peacekeepers to the uncontrolled territories of the Donbas at the autumn session of the UN General Assembly.

Putin also said Russian Federation meant to draft a resolution for consideration in the United Nations Security Council, suggesting armed U.N. peacekeepers be deployed to eastern Ukraine to help protect ceasefire monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) there.

"Of course, we are talking of only the function of ensuring security of the OSCE mission", he added.