UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Russia clashed with the United States and its western allies on Thursday over the nearly seven-year conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the UN has warned that the current fragile ceasefire risks be reversed if peace negotiations reach an impasse.
Russia called the Security Council meeting to mark the sixth anniversary of the signing of the Minsk peace plan negotiated by France and Germany on Friday. The aim was to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists, which broke out in April 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in the Russian-speaking industrial east, called Donbass.
Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Ukraine of failing to implement the 2015 Minsk agreement, saying: “During these six years, we have not yet received an answer to two very important questions: how exactly does Ukraine intend to resolve peacefully? the conflict, and how does Kiev foresee a special status of Donbass in Ukraine? “
“The answers to these questions will entirely determine the prospects for an agreement, because after the start in 2014 of the use of Kiev force and the continued bombardments of residential areas by the Ukrainian army, which continue today, the people of Donbass did not feel any connection with Ukraine, ”he said.
The United States and European allies France, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Norway, Belgium and the United Kingdom blamed Russia for fueling the conflict, which has already killed more than 14,000 people, by providing financial and military support to separatists.
The United States political coordinator, Rodney Hunter, speaking on behalf of the Biden government, said that Russia instigated the conflict in Donbass and “blocked significant progress in diplomatic negotiations while armed, trained, financed and led its proxy forces and supported self-proclaimed authorities’ on the ground. “
“The United States reaffirms its unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said, accusing Russia of escalating “its oppression of any dissent from the brutal occupation of Crimea.”
“We will never recognize Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea,” said Hunter. “As a result, US sanctions on Russia in response to its aggression in eastern Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea will remain in force unless – and even – Russia reverses the course.
The Minsk agreements provide that Ukraine can regain control over its border with Russia in the regions maintained by the separatists only after receiving broad autonomy and holding local elections.
The deal helped to reduce the scope of hostilities, but Ukrainian forces continued to exchange artillery rounds and shots.
Although the July 2020 ceasefire “has been largely maintained,” UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said there had been an increase in security incidents at several critical points in recent months.
“This dangerous trend needs to be reversed quickly,” she said.
The ceasefire agreement was reached by members of the Tripartite Contact Group that includes representatives from Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the OSCE. It came after a meeting in Paris in December 2019 of leaders from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany – the so-called Normandy group – who expressed support for the Minsk agreement and agreed to revive the peace process.
DiCarlo told the council that ongoing discussions in these groups “are not a cause for complacency” and are not a substitute for “significant progress”.
“The risk of setback is real if negotiations reach an impasse,” he warned.
Russian Nebenzia said the Minsk agreement says nothing about direct dialogue with the two separatist governments in Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbass, or about an agreement on any special status for the region.
“Instead, fantasies about establishing some kind of international administration and holding elections just two years later are in the document,” he said. “Do you really think that the people of Donbass will really agree with this international form of occupation?”
In response, a statement by seven European countries strongly condemned “the continued destabilization of certain areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions” and again called on Russia “to immediately stop fueling the conflict” by supporting the separatists.
Germany’s Ambassador to the UN, Christoph Heusgen, went further, telling the Security Council how Russia violated the main paragraphs of the Minsk agreements – including the initial 2015 ceasefire, failing to withdraw heavy weapons and foreign forces and blocking the free access by OSCE monitors to observe areas of the Russian-Ukrainian border not controlled by the Ukrainian government.
“To this day, there are Russian forces in eastern Ukraine,” said Heusgen. “They may not have the official stamp of the Russian army, but the Russians are still there and, without Russia, Luhansk and Donetsk could not survive.”
Halit Cevik, chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, saw “a window of opportunity for the sides to find a path to a lasting slowdown, but we also see that it is narrowing”.
Cevik said the July 2020 ceasefire has led to “the most lasting reduction in violence” since the mission began recording ceasefire violations. But he said, “the membership has eroded over time”.