Minsk summit to resolve remaining Association Agreement issues

A trilateral summit will be held on Aug. 26 in Minsk between Ukraine, the EU and the “Eurasian troika” to resolve remaining issues on implementing the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, reported the press-service of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Aug. 19. Representing the EU will be High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht, the presence of which was characterized as an unprecedented step by Valeriy Chaly, a deputy head of the Presidential Administration. The “Eurasian troika” will be represented by their respective heads of state as well, Chaly told the Ukrayinska Pravda news site.

“We believe this is a format that, I’ll say carefully, enables us to implement a road map that may lead us from war to peace as a result,” Chaly said. “Though there aren’t any guarantees, but coordination in issues of economics, trade and energy can lead to the implementation of the Poroshenko peace plan.”

Zenon Zawada: It’s hard to predict whether the Russian government will engage in a sincere attempt to resolve the remaining trade and political issues, or will use the conference to create more hurdles for Ukraine. It’s also hard to say whether the Ukrainian government has prepared the necessary conditions that will allow the Russian government to save face in this conflict, which we see as a critical element to any resolution.

The emergence of the term “Eurasian troika” – referring to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan – is a positive step in that direction as it creates a lexicon that legitimizes and accustomizes Ukraine’s self-exclusion from the Eurasian Union project.