Last year, on August 6, 2019, just three weeks after a ceasefire had been agreed, Russia-backed forces opened fire at Ukrainian military positions, using grenade-launchers, machine guns and assault rifles. During the preceding week, four Ukrainian soldiers – Oleksandr Sharko (1988-2019), Vladislav Rak (1998-2019), Serhiy Shandra (1995-2019) and Vasyl Kurdov (1999-2019) – were killed in the fighting, which marked the highest daily death toll since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took office.
The ceasefire agreement was reached in Minsk on July 17 by Ukrainian and Russian envoys, as well as members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, (the three parties comprise the Trilateral Contact Group). The ceasefire was to go into effect on July 22, but nothing changed from previous attempts in September 2014 and in February 2015, in addition to the 22 violated truces that had been agreed to since the beginning of the war.
Another format for negotiations in the framework toward peace, the Normandy Format – Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine – had not met since 2016.
Mr. Zelenskyy attempted to call out Russia for its influence over the militants in occupied territories of eastern Ukraine, but no results came from his appeal. He reached out to President Emmanuel Macron to convene the Normandy Four discussions. Ukraine’s president condemned Russia’s latest move that he said was aimed at disrupting the peace process.
As part of his campaign message, Mr. Zelenskyy said he seeks peace as a priority of his administration, and his party, Servant of the People, which holds a majority of the seats in Parliament. He also appealed to the United States and the United Kingdom to join the Normandy talks, to increase pressure on Russia. However, all of these efforts fail to address the main issue, as Ambassador Steven Pifer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote more than three years ago, “…there is little evidence to suggest improved future prospects for Minsk II’s implementation, primarily because the Kremlin does not seem to want peace.”
The Ukrainian Weekly’s editorial of August 11, 2019, noted that the peace talks had stalled, and something like the U.S. and the U.K. joining the negotiations could jumpstart the process.
On July 27 of this year, a new ceasefire went into effect that was supported by Presidents Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin. The agreement was reached on July 22 for a “full and comprehensive ceasefire” and was hailed by Germany and France, as well as European Union officials. The ceasefire deal is seen as a precondition for a new Ukrainian crisis summit. Ukrainian military officials have already reported violations by the Russia-backed side, just minutes after the ceasefire went into effect.
Source: “Another ‘ceasefire,’” The Ukrainian Weekly, August 11, 2019.