Russia’s proposal of a United Nations peacekeeping mission to the Donbas could only deepen the divide in Ukraine, but the idea opens a chance for dialogue, the United States Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker said on Sept. 16 at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin suggested that the United Nations Security Council deploying peacekeeping troops to eastern Ukraine, where Russia has been waging war since 2014 with more than 10,000 people killed.
The Russian dictator restricted the peacekeepers’ mission to escorting Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors and only along the line of the cease-fire, effectively hardening the divide of Ukrainian territory. He also demanded prior disengagement of armed forces and removal of heavy weapons from the area and direct contact with Kremlin-backed proxies.
“It would be unreasonable to expect Russia go to the UN Security Council with a pro-Ukrainian position,” Volker told journalists. “But the fact that they did it is a step forward. It never happened before, and it indicates that Russia senses the status quo isn’t good for anybody.”
He thinks that the Kremlin understands didn’t achieve its aims with the invasion of eastern Ukraine. Contrary to Putin’s expectations, Ukraine has become more unified, more nationalistic and more westward-looking than before.
In his opinion, Russia has also felt the effect of the American and European sanctions that have been in place for more than three years.
Volker said that that despite caveats Putin’s proposal of UN troops gives Ukraine an opportunity to negotiate its own conditions. His next meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Surkov will take place in October.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin also spoke at the YES conference on the key points of Ukraine’s position in regards to the possible UN peacekeeping mission.
First, the peacekeeping mandate should cover the entire territory of the Donbas, including uncontrolled parts of the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Second, it should not legitimize Russian protectorate on the occupied territory.
Third, it should include the withdrawal of Russian troops and arms from the occupied territory.
What about Crimea?
While the ongoing war in the Donbas has come to the fore, Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea feel left out.
Although the sanctions against Russia for the annexation of the peninsula in 2014 remain in place, there is no other tangible effort or format of political discussion on returning it to Ukraine similar to Minsk agreement or Normandy talks.
Refat Chubarov, member of the Ukrainian parliament and chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, said that the sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea were not as robust as those introduced for the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
“Two sets of sanctions should be kept until both the Donbas and Crimea are returned to Ukraine. They can’t be viewed separately, and gradual lifting will be a big mistake,” he said speaking at a panel at the Yalta European Strategy meeting on Sept. 16.
Volker agreed that his focus at the moment is to give impetus for the failing Minsk peace agreement, which have called since 2014 for a cease-fire, Russia’s withdrawal of Ukraine and return of control of the eastern border to Ukraine.
But it doesn’t change his view on the Crimean issue and doesn’t mean giving the peninsula up.
“At the meeting with my Russian counterpart Vladislav Surkov [in August] I made it clear that the occupation of eastern Ukraine and Crimea was similar,” he said at a panel. “We won’t accept…them, and the pressure on Russia will continue until both are returned.”
“We need to start making progress. My job is not to replace Minsk/Normandy process but to make it work,” he added.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former secretary general of NATO, suggested that the U.S. should consider supplying defensive weapons to Ukraine after all.
In his opinion, the negotiations on deploying UN peacekeeping troops to Ukraine won’t go far until after the Russian presidential elections in 2018.
