Poroshenko, Merkel agree to intensified peace talks

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on July 26 to intensify the work of the Normandy Format talks, which also involve Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande. The goal of these talks would be to achieve a “clear road map” to implement the Minsk accords, which should include Russia’s fulfillment of security guarantees, reported the Ukrainian Presidential Administration’s website the same day.

During their telephone conversation, Poroshenko also told Merkel that he’s concerned about the recent sharp escalation in fighting in the Donbas war zone and the growth in casualties, the Ukrainian Presidential Administration’s website reported. Poroshenko said Russian-backed forces are increasing attacks from large-caliber armaments and are continuing to receive arms supplies from Russia, in constant violation of the Minsk accords. He called for the need to not only keep sanctions in place, but intensify them should the situation in Donbas worsen.

Martin Sajdik, the OSCE special representative in Ukraine, is currently in Minsk meeting with the coordinators of the working groups of the Trilateral Contact Group to discuss the further strategy of the peace talks, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry reported on July 26. Meanwhile in the war zone, Russian-backed forces shot down an OSCE drone and fired upon the residential areas of Avdiyivka, a Donetsk region factory town, reported on July 26 the pravda.com.ua news site, citing the report of a Ukrainian soldier. The OSCE confirmed the loss of a drone in the Donetsk region, the report said.

Zenon Zawada: The Donbas peace talks – both at the level of national leaders and between the warring parties in Minsk – are essentially back to Square One, more than two years after the conflict began. The West thought that Putin’s political position would be severely weakened by the sanctions by now, but he’s more defiant and confident than ever, with the ongoing support of the Russian public.

Poroshenko wants the possibility of tightening sanctions, which is a sign that he’s out-of-touch with the political trends in the West. The main concern there is terrorist attacks by radical Islamists, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict falling off the radar screens. Unfortunately, we see a greater likelihood of sanctions being relaxed rather than tightened by EU member-states.

The Ukrainian leadership has lost the political momentum in the West, with the exception of the U.S., and needs to regain it somehow. Otherwise, the current paths are leading to a frozen conflict in the style of Transnistria (Moldova) and South Ossetia (Georgia).