Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia face obstacles

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 19 Oct 2019 by Alex Teddy
Despite the Steinmeier Formula peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing. Over 10 000 people protested against the formula in Kyiv on October 14. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that the negotiations in Normandy in November will be the final opportunity to implement the Minsk Agreement. He added that Russian soldiers and mercenaries must leave Donbass and Luhansk for the Steinmeier Formula to be valid. He also insisted on Ukrainian control of the border. Ukrainian troops and their enemies are both supposed to pull back from the front line and this has not happened. Talks have stalled on when this pullback will occur. Moscow could easily say its soldiers have left even if this is not true.The press secretary of Ukraine's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group stated that the people's republics of Luhansk and Donbass must be dissolved for there to be peace. These demands seem unrealistic and are not in the Steinmeier Formula which even allows for a 'people's militia' to exist in Donbass and Luhansk. This hard line rhetoric is presumably aimed to burnish Zelensky's nationalist credentials when some Ukrainians are saying he has sold them down the Swanee.

Now read on...

Register to sample a report

Register
Sign-in
Forgot your password?
Copyright 2025 GlobalSource Partners. All rights reserved. This is prepared for GlobalSource Partners’ clients and may not be redistributed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, retransmitted or disclosed, in whole or in part, or in any form or manner, without the express written consent of GlobalSource Partners. This is distributed simultaneously to our website and other portals used by GlobalSource Partners. The information herein was obtained from various sources and is believed to be reliable but GlobalSource Partners does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Neither GlobalSource Partners nor any Country Analyst, officer or employee accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses rising from any use of this or its contents.