Marchuk to lead Ukraine at Minsk peace talks, replacing Kuchma

Yevhen Marchuk, a 77-year-old veteran of Ukrainian politics,
was selected on Nov. 22 by the president to replace Leonid Kuchma as Ukraine’s
representative to the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk to resolve the armed
conflict in Donbas. He already served as Ukraine’s representative to the
group’s security subgroup. Earlier, Marchuk served as Ukraine’s defense
minister between June 2003 and September 2004, during which he participated in
resolving Ukraine’s conflict with Russia over control of the Tuzla Island in
the Kerch Strait. He also served as Ukraine’s prime minister in 1995-1996.
 

In his first meeting at the Minsk talks on Nov. 22 as
Ukraine’s lead representative, Marchuk condemned the illegal elections held in
Donbas, proposed reformatting the political subgroup and called for removing
military hardware from Stanytsia Luhanska, a village near the separation line,
said on her Facebook page Iryna Gerashchenko, the president’s representative
for the peaceful resolution to the conflict in Donbas.

Zenon Zawada: Marchuk is as solid a diplomat as anyone for this role but he won’t
offer any breakthrough in the Minsk peace talks. As with any member of
Ukraine’s entrenched elite, he has a checkered past with alleged corruption
that could compromise him. With Kuchma citing his age and exhaustion for his
resignation, it’s also questionable to appoint someone who is not much younger.
Just as Putin is using the Minsk peace talks as a stalling tactic, Marchuk will
hold Ukraine’s position and not surrender anything (though not gain anything
either).