Ukraine not fulfilling Minsk accords, Putin alleges

The Ukrainian government has failed to discuss its constitutional amendments with the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic, as required by the Minsk accords, Russian President Putin told a Sept. 4 press conference. The local election law has to be drafted with the leaders, and amnesty for fighters and special status for the territories must be approved, he said. “Unfortunately, the government in Kyiv is doing nothing of the sort and no compromise on these amendments is occurring,” Putin said.

The deadly conflict outside the Ukrainian parliament on Aug. 31 weren’t at all related to the vote on the constitutional amendments, Putin told the press conference. “Everything that is being proposed to us now in the form of changes has an absolutely declarative nature and, in essence, the governmental structures in Ukraine aren’t changing,” he said. “The constitutional changes are being used exclusively as a pretext to intensify the political struggle for power.”

The development of events in Ukraine depends on how long the Ukrainian people are able to tolerate the disorder in government, Putin said. “I think it’s an insult to the Ukrainian people that Ukraine was placed under a foreign administration, and that foreigners occupy all the key positions in government, and now in all the key regions,” he said, indirectly referring to former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili occupying the post of Odesa regional administration head.

Zenon Zawada: It has long been apparent that the purpose of Putin’s public statements is to achieve political goals and manipulate public opinion towards that end, rather than having any basis in reality. Indeed Putin has demonstrated repeatedly that he thinks he can manufacture reality, using the vast mass media resources at this disposal. This morning’s comments fall in line with his tactics. In insisting on the Ukrainian government’s failure to fulfill the Minsk accords, Putin is merely pressuring his enemies to drift further the abyss of an agreement that will never be fulfilled.

In claiming the deadly conflict wasn’t related to the amendments, Putin is downplaying the dramatic effect the Donbas specific order/special status, and de facto federalization, will have on Ukrainian governance. (We don’t think the parties will even reach the point of implementing the specific order/special status). Moreover, the Svoboda nationalist party essentially disqualified itself from ever being a competitive political force with its actions on Aug. 31. As for the foreigners in government, Ukrainians aren’t much bothered by that, especially since they all had extensive experience of having worked in Ukraine beforehand.

The Minsk Accords have become a useful tool for Putin not only in distracting the West and Ukraine as he continues to reinforce Russia’s presence in the Donbas region, but it has also become an effective instrument in creating divisions in Ukrainian society, as demonstrated on Aug. 31. Putin is hoping that the domestic conflict surrounding the Minsk accords will accelerate the infighting in Ukraine and force a collapse in the government, far earlier than his government would collapse from economic sanctions.

The strategy has the potential to work and the way to prevent it is for the Ukrainian president to find a dialogue and compromise with the nationalist forces, particularly the Praviy Sektor paramilitary group. Meanwhile, the West has to understand that Putin has no serious intentions with the Minsk accords, which he is merely using as an instrument to cause divisions in Ukraine and subsequently erode Western support for Ukraine. The West’s future strategy in dealing with Putin should be based on this understanding of what the Minsk accords truly represent. Unfortunately, they are not a realistic path towards peace.