Kharkiv City Council votes to support Steinmeier formula

The city council of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest
city, approved on Oct. 16 an appeal to the president expressing support for
using the Steinmeier formula to implement the Minsk Accords to resolve the
warfare in Donbas. The appeal drew 53 votes in favor, 12 against and two
abstentions. “We, the deputies of the Kharkiv City Council, support the
president of Ukraine in searching for peace,” the appeal said, as reported by
the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. “We believe the Steinmeier formula to be the
single realistic path to halting the war currently. Withdrawal forces is not a
retreat, but a step forward towards a larger halt in firing, and therefore
deaths.”

The appeal also condemned those local councils
throughout western and central Ukraine issuing resolutions critical of
implementing the Steinmeier formula. “Certain irresponsible politicians
immediately declared the Steinmeier formula to be capitulation and began to
threaten a third Maidan protest,” the statement said. “They seek war in order
to divide Ukrainians between patriots and betrayers, or separatists. They are
deliberately deceiving Ukrainians, convincing citizens that the Steinmeier
formula indicates the surrender of statehood and capitulation.”

Zenon Zawada: We are
seeing a dangerous development of events disturbingly similar to 2004, when
local councils were passing resolutions rejecting or supporting the results in
the highly contested presidential election between the pro-Western Yushchenko
and pro-Russian Yanukovych. A similar situation emerged in 2013, when
then-President Yanukovych refused to sign the EU Association Agreement,
prompting resolutions in condemnation from local councils in western Ukraine.

The main difference this time around is that more
Ukrainian regions have joined the pro-Western forces. Joining the opposition to
the Steinmeier formula last week was the Kherson City Council, which had
traditionally been Russian-oriented. This is among numerous signs that
Russian-oriented Ukrainians are dwindling in their number and influence.

The votes for and against the Steinmeier formula in
councils throughout Ukraine indicate that the issue has come to signify either
submission or opposition to Putin’s Russian World project. If implementing the
Minsk Accords under the Steinmeier formula ever comes to a referendum, the
results will clearly delineate those regions of Ukraine that Russia will be
claiming to be protecting from enemies, alleging them to be subverting their
right to self-determination.

It’s not clear whether the Kharkiv City Council,
which is aligned with Mayor Gennadiy Kernes, approved the appeal in
coordination with the President’s Office, or possibly even Russian agents in
Ukraine. Kernes has historically aligned himself with both pro-Western and
pro-Russian forces, depending on whether they furthered his ability to retain
power. If the council acted in tandem with Zelensky’s team, then this would
indicate a dangerous fissure reopening in Ukrainian society and Zelensky’s
alignment with Russian-oriented forces.