Dear Editor:
After the latest ceasefire agreement concluded at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group, Russian forces violated it on the very day that it took effect – July 27.
Indeed, notwithstanding another good-faith attempt by Ukrainian authorities to stop the killing of soldiers and civilians in eastern Ukraine, the reprieve was awfully short-lived.
This should not have come as a surprise to anyone who followed how quickly Russian forces violated their previous ceasefire undertakings made in Minsk I, Minsk II and the 2020 Normandy Four summit in Paris.
The consequences of such ceasefire violations by the Russian Federation over the last six years are already appalling: over 13,000 individuals have been killed and over 30,000 injured in the Donbas, and there are currently over 1.5 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine.
What is even more appalling is that the number of deaths and injuries will continue to grow.
If that was not bad enough, the Russian Federation is now contending that it cannot guarantee any ceasefire agreement in the Donbas.
A failure by the international community to respond promptly and firmly to such crass violations of a negotiated ceasefire will only compound this tragedy in Ukraine and further endanger Europe.
The NGO Ukraine-2050 therefore calls upon the international community to react immediately with heightened sanctions against the Russian Federation to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity, enhance peace and security in Europe, and send a crystal-clear message that there are real consequences for violations of international commitments.
Eugene Czolij
Montreal
The letter-writer is president of the Kyiv-based NGO Ukraine-2050.