Semester work assignment #1

 Russia-Ukraine: tentative progress at first talks for three years

The topic I’ve chosen is connected to the Russian-Ukrainian issue that’s been unresolved for 5 years since the Crimea incident. The question is very controversial and the relationships between the two countries were tense, and situation still has not changed so far these days. I'd like to consider two periods in its development: what happened before the meeting and after it. It is necessary to say a few words about a certain period importance of this event The majority of European countries and the USA still consider Russian annexation of Crimea as an illegal action towards Ukraine. As an immediate response to Russia, lots of them imposed their sanctions on the Russian Federation which then resulted in the deterioration of the situation.  Thus, Russia was expelled from the G8 for such inappropriate behavior which led to the rapid decrease in influence of the country on the world stage. In addition, in 2014, a missile was launched from the part of Ukranian territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. As it was claimed, Russia was accused of downing MH17 and thus no chances were left to improve the issue. 

However, recently, in Paris, V. Putin and V. Zelenskiy together with A. Merkel and E. Macron have held a meeting related to the discussion on how to make any progress between Russia and Ukraine. Before the meeting, V. Zelenskiy at home was strongly criticized for making an attempt to have a constructive dialog with V. Putin. As lots of officials predicted, an agreement on prisoner exchanges and absolute ceasefire were the main topics debated about.  In particular, there have been discussions on the Ukrainian border which is now being held by Russian soldiers who allow people to move from Ukraine to Russia. After several hours of negotiations, V. Putin is now convinced that the conversation they’ve had puts both countries on the right track. Both sides pledged to work intensely on clearing the south-eastern parts of Ukraine from mines, let the Red Cross visit all prisoners and evaluate the conditions they are detained in. On the other hand, a big obstacle to the talks was V. Putin’s constant reference to the Minsk agreements which he said Kiev must stick to.

All things considered, there has been a subtle but vital progress between the two sides. Moreover, E.Macron and A.Merkel were intermediaries who undoubtedly contributed a lot to the possible reconciliation of the countries. The meeting also has a great chance of establishing strong links between all the countries involved in this process in the nearest future because the next appointment is going to happen in four months in Berlin.

The reference pages:

1) Roth, A. “Russia-Ukraine: Tentative Progress at First Talks for Three Years.” 10 Dec. 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/10/russia-ukraine-tentative-progress-at-first-talks-for-three-years.

2) “MH17 Flight.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_17.

3) “G7.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_Seven.

4) “ International Committee of the Red Cross;” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement.

5) “Russian annexation of Crimea.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation.

6) “Minsk Protocol.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_Protocol.