Ukraine will retake occupied border after elections, official says

The Ukrainian government will “gain access” to the border between occupied Donbas and the Russian Federation on the day after local elections are held in occupied Donbas, Deputy Presidential Administration Head Kostiantyn Yeliseyev told a talk show on Oct. 20, as reported by the UNIAN news agency. This condition was part of the Minsk Two Accords approved in February 2015, he said. In order for that to happen, Russian soldiers have to be removed from Donbas and an OSCE mission has to gain full access to the contested border before the elections, he said.

Zenon Zawada: The Presidential Administraton has thrown a new political football into the domestic political arena regarding the Minsk Accords that will be kicked around for a few weeks. For at least a year, the president and his staff insisted that the local elections would be arranged only if Ukraine had control of the border, which is the demand of paramilitaries and nationalists. Now his foreign policy advisor is stating that that won’t happen, in accordance with the Minsk Accords.

Ultimately, all the debate over this issue will serve as a convenient distraction for the president because we don’t expect the peace process will ever get to this stage. In order to get as far as local elections, Russian soldiers will have to be withdrawn, the OSCE police mission will have to consist of officers loyal to the Russian government, the local population will have to be disarmed, and Ukrainian political parties will have to be allowed to compete.

Achieving even one of these conditions is difficult. Achieving all of them, as well as a cease-fire, is nearly impossible. So in essence, the Minsk Accords shell game being played by a desperate Russian president, a crafty Ukrainian president and a clueless West will continue along the same path, barring any sharp moves by Putin.