Yevgeny Magda
Yet another meeting in the Normandy format has brought no positive
changes to the process of Donbas settlement. It’s not only Ukraine but also the
European Parliament which is concerned with the crackdown against the Crimean
Tatars in the Russian-occupied Crimea. Joe Biden confirmed the high degree of
his involvement in Ukrainian affairs.
The Normandy format of Donbas settlement is increasingly resembling a
suitcase without a handle, which all of the participants are forced to carry.
Ukraine does so to prove its status as a responsible member of the
international community, Russia – in order to prevent the strengthening of
Western economic sanctions, Germany, and France – to confirm their ability to
influence the situation in the Old World. In addition is currently a chair at
the OSCE, so this imposes additional obligations upon Berlin.
However, the meeting of the Normandy Four’s foreign ministers on the
shores of Lake Tegel has brought no results. Actually, such outcome of the
negotiations was projected, since Russia is not even simulating any will to
promote settlement in Donbas. In fact, it continues to supply military
equipment and weapons to the militants.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo
Klimkin said that the issues of regional security and holding the elections in
the militant-occupied areas of Donbas under the Ukrainian legislation are not
subject to trade-offs, promoted by his German counterpart Frank-Walter
Steinmeier. Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov routinely shifted
responsibility to Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk, whose representatives, according
to the Russian Foreign Minister, must come to the negotiating table. A
spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova demonstrated her
incompetence after the Berlin round of talks, voicing her resentment over the
fact that the Ukrainian delegation used a map on which Crimea was designated as
the Ukrainian territory. Apparently, it would be useful for the "voice of
the Smolensk Square" to recall that the United Nations General Assembly in
March 2014 confirmed that Crimea is in fact part of Ukraine.
Russian occupation authorities continue to put pressure on the Crimean Tatars:
both on ordinary citizens, and the representatives of the Mejlis. In addition
to the mass detentions in Bakhchisarai (the occupation forces raided the
mosques, knowing that they could make as much as possible of the arrests there)
and searches, criminal charges were imposed on the deputy head of the Mejlis,
Ilmi Umerov. The European Parliament spoke up for the protection of Crimean
Tatars, With a special resolution, the MEPs condemned the ban on the activities
of the Mejlis in Russia.
It is worth noting that the tightening of domestic policy in Russia is
continuing. The State Duma in the first reading passed a bill that limits the
travel of the Russian citizens abroad. The balance of power in the Russian
parliament does not suggest that this initiative will not be supported as a
whole. On the same day, the top management of Russia’s RBC business news agency
was sacked for allowing themselves something inappropriate in their
publications, according to the Kremlin. Putin and his entourage continue
imposing a siege mode across Russia, failing to hear the opinion of the
international community about its policy in Crimea and Donbas.
Barack Obama and the Nordic leaders not only called for continued sanctions
against Russia but also advocated the intensification of reforms in
Ukraine. The main mediator between the White House and Ukraine remains U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden, who not only reaffirmed commitment to grant Ukraine a
$1 billion worth of loan guarantees but also invited Volodymyr Groysman to
visit the United States in June and supported the appointment of Yuriy Lutsenko
to the post of a prosecutor general.
A more active engagement of Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski is
also noteworthy. The diplomat accused the head of the European Council, Donald
Tusk, of ignoring Poland’s will to take part in the negotiations on the Donbas
settlement. He also underlined that his country must be ready for a possible
influx of refugees from Ukraine. With these statements, Warsaw is trying to
kill several birds with one stone: to attract Washington's attention on the eve
of the July NATO summit in the Polish capital, to strengthen its own influence
in Eastern and Central Europe, and to reduce the flow of refugees from Africa
and the Middle East, who are perceived rather negatively in the conservative
Polish society.
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