KYIV. July 13 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed a decree to send a Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent to the Republic of South Sudan and the Abyei Area, a disputed region on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, according to the presidential website.
"To send up to 60 servicemen [of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Interior Ministry] to the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan and to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei," says a decree signed by the president on July 6.
In addition, Yanukovych signed a bill to send a 100-strong Ukrainian peacekeeping contingent from Liberia to participate in the UN operation in Cote d'Ivoire by the date determined by the UN Security Council.
The president made the decision considering Ukraine's commitments as a member of the UN, the request of the UN Secretariat, and "assuming that sending the peacekeeping personnel will contribute to international peace and security, and will also meet the national interests of the state."
On July 6, Verkhovna Rada approved the president's decision to send Ukrainian peacekeepers from Liberia to Cote d'Ivoire.
Presently, 627 Ukrainian servicemen are performing peacekeeping tasks as part of nine UN and NATO missions. A group of Ukrainian peacekeeping contingents totaling 562 servicemen functions in Liberia, Kosovo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, 65 more Ukrainians operate as the peacekeeping personnel of missions in South Sudan, the Congo, Transdniestria, Liberia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.