To Be or Not to Be? Ukraine’s Minsk Process

A little over a year after the Minsk II accord was signed in February 2015, it is all too apparent that the agreement aimed at ending the war in eastern Ukraine is not working. Nevertheless, Western governments, the EU, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) keep reiterating that Minsk needs to be fulfilled.

Since the deadline for the implementation of Minsk II passed at the end of December 2015, it is unclear what this means in practice. A concrete though ultimately unachievable set of security and political measures has been replaced by a vague reference to an end goal. Ukrainian and Russian politicians routinely blame each other for violating the agreement.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU presses Ukraine to deliver on Minsk agreement http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-presses-ukraine-to-deliver-on-minsk-agreement/

OSCE: Where we are: OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm

Council of the European Union: Policies > EU restrictive measures > EU restrictive measures in response to the crisis in Ukraine http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/sanctions/ukraine-crisis/

ECFR: Minsk Monitor http://www.ecfr.eu/wider/minsk

SWP Comments, No.14, March 2016: The Future of the Minsk Agreements. Press for Implementation and Support Sanctions (Susan Stewart) http://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publications/swp-comments-en/swp-aktuelle-details/article/the_future_of_the_minsk_agreements.html

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