A peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict is still not in sight. Russia’s head of state Putin sees no more prospects for the Minsk agreement. On Monday he wants to decide on the independence of the self-proclaimed “People’s Republics” in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin no longer sees any chance of implementing the Minsk agreements to bring peace to eastern Ukraine. “We have come to the conclusion that there is no prospect” for the agreements, Putin said at a meeting of the National Security Council in Moscow on Monday. In the Minsk Agreements mediated by Germany and France in 2014 and 2015, the parties to the conflict in eastern Ukraine committed themselves to several steps to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Shortly before Putin’s statement, the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine called on the Russian head of state to recognize the independence of their self-proclaimed “people’s republics” from Ukraine.
Ukraine conflict: Putin wants to decide on “people’s republics”.
“I ask you to recognize the sovereignty and independence of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” rebel leader Leonid Pasechnik said in a video message broadcast on Russian television. The separatist leader in the self-proclaimed “People’s Republic” of Donetsk, Denis Puschilin, joined the demand.
The Russian head of state announced that he wanted to make a decision on recognizing the independence of the pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine before the end of Monday. “I heard your opinions, the decision will be made today,” Putin said at a National Security Council meeting in Moscow. All those involved, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, spoke out in favor of recognizing the regions. The Security Council said that neither Ukraine nor the West needed the Donbass.
The US recently warned that recognition of the “People’s Republics” by Moscow would constitute “a gross violation of international law”. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said it was clear to Russia that the step would have serious consequences in view of the sanctions threatened by the West. In view of the situation, however, there is no other option than to recognize the areas. The pressure on Russia will be unprecedented. The hope is, however, that the conflict will cool down afterwards.
Scholz warns Putin
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. In a telephone conversation with Putin on Monday afternoon, Scholz condemned such plans, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Such a step would therefore be “a unilateral breach” of the Minsk agreements on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In the afternoon conversation, Scholz called on Putin “to immediately de-escalate and withdraw” the assembled troops from the border with Ukraine, Hebestreit explained. The Chancellor underscored that “it is now important, particularly in eastern Ukraine, to comply with the ceasefire and set signs of relaxation.” Russia has “a special responsibility” here.
“At the moment” Scholz is consulting “with the closest partners,” it said in the early evening. Among them are French President Emmanuel Macon and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Minsk Agreement should pacify conflict in eastern Ukraine
The Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015 were intended to bring peace to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. They were signed by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Among other things, the agreements provided for an immediate ceasefire, a withdrawal of heavy weapons and the withdrawal of all foreign mercenaries and troops from eastern Ukraine. Elections should be held in Luhansk and Donetsk; Kiev should also pass a constitutional reform that would have given the separatist areas in the Donbass a special status.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014
In eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian militias have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014, killing more than 14,000 people. Violence in the region had increased in recent days, fueling fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, the separatists in the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk called on civilians in the areas they control to travel to Russia. On Saturday morning they then ordered a “general mobilization”.
The situation worsened on Monday. According to the Russian army, five “saboteurs” coming from Ukraine were killed on Russian soil. Russian news agencies had previously reported that a Russian border post had been fired on from Ukraine. The government in Kiev immediately denied the Russian information about the two incidents.
Note: This article has been updated
Source: Stern
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