Obama reminds Putin two months left to fulfill Minsk accords

Russian President Putin visited the United Nations for the first time in 10 years on Sept. 28 and delivered a speech that focused on fighting the Islamic State in Syria and only briefly mentioned Ukraine. Putin called for an international coalition to defeat the Islamic State, ignoring the current coalition being led by the U.S. Regarding Ukraine, Putin called for the full implementation of the Minsk accords signed in February to put “an end to the bloodshed and find a way out of the deadlock.” Ukraine’s territorial integrity cannot be ensured by threat of force and force of arms, he said in his remarks to the General Assembly.

“What is needed is a genuine consideration for the interests and rights of the people in the Donbas region and respect for their choice,” Putin said in his remarks. “There is a need to coordinate with them as provided for by the Minsk agreements, the key elections of the country’s political structure. These steps will guarantee that Ukraine will develop as a civilized society as an essential link and building a common space of security and economic cooperation, both in Europe and Eurasia.”

Afterwards, Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama met for their first bilateral talks in more than two years, which were scheduled for 55 minutes but extended for an additional 30 minutes, reported the liga.net news site. They agreed to direct their militaries to hold talks to avoid conflict over potential operations in Syria during bilateral talks, the Reuters news agency reported, citing an anonymous U.S. official. They also agreed to explore options for a political solution in Syria and addressed Ukraine, the source said, but they disagreed on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Putin supports.

In his turn, Obama told Putin the Donbas terrorists should provide full access to OSCE representatives to all checkpoints, the Russian Armed Forces should be removed from occupied Donbas and the Ukrainian government must be allowed to restore control over its border. He reminded Putin that two months are left to fulfill the Minsk accords, which is adequate time, as reported by liga.net. Obama told Putin that the illegal elections scheduled for Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 will undermine the any attempt at dialogue and removing Western sanctions. Continuing to undermine the Minsk accords will only extend and strengthen sanctions, Obama said, as reported by liga.net.

The Ukrainian delegation left the UN General Assembly Hall in protest during Putin’s remarks. “This was an unemotional speech in which he repeated again the well-known arguments of Russia. Absolutely nothing new,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told a television network on Sept. 28. He told Interfax that “it wasn’t simply a demarche. We showed our attitude to Russia, as an aggressor, as well as to what Putin said.”

Zenon Zawada: Putin is using the Syrian war to shift the world’s attention away from the Donbas war, which he has fueled. To avoid being compared to the modern-day Hitler, he has shifted the narrative by casting the Islamic State as the modern-day Hitler. By forming coalitions with Western states, as in World War Two, Putin is seeking to convince the West of the need for cooperation for bigger geopolitical goals, rather than to be divided over Ukraine and to reduce sanctions against Russia. The cooperation agreement with Obama is meant to be the first wedge to convince the U.S. to unite over Syria and to back down on Ukraine, namely in lessening sanctions.

Certainly, the larger the conflict becomes involving the Islamic State, the more the West will want to cooperate with Russia and reduce sanctions in regards to Ukraine. Putin is aiming for the West to grow exhausted from the war in Ukraine before his government becomes exhausted. Some evidence of this is already apparent, with the populist U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump vowing he’ll cut a deal with Putin. Meanwhile, the Dutch have approved a referendum to reconsider its government’s support for the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in response to Russian sanctions on their agricultural exports. However, we don’t see the West’s resolve weakening against Putin anytime soon.

Putin’s remarks were deceptive and misleading, as usual. He called for forming a coalition against the Islamic State yet a U.S.-led coalition has been in place for more than a year involving the leading Western and Arab states. Regarding Ukraine, the biggest obstacle to fulfilling the Minsk accords has been the attacks by the Kremlin-backed terrorists. He implied the West has undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity, when it was he who led the first annexation of territory since 1945 with Crimea. He called for respecting the choice of the people of Donbas, when it was Russian soldiers that propped up terrorists without a legitimate vote in their support.