Two rounds of talks in Paris and Berlin between presidential envoys from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have yielded no progress. The Donbas region accounted for about 16% of Ukraine's GDP before the conflict.Īmid soaring tensions over the Russian troop concentration near Ukraine, France and Germany embarked on renewed efforts to encourage compliance with the 2015 deal, in hopes that it could help defuse the current standoff.įacing calls from Berlin and Paris for its implementation, Ukrainian officials have strengthened their criticism of the Minsk deal and warned that it could lead to the country's demise. It has provided economic and financial assistance to the separatist territories, but the aid has been insufficient to alleviate the massive damage from fighting and shore up the economy. Moscow also has worked to secure its hold on the rebel regions by handing out more than 720,000 Russian passports to roughly one-fifth of their population of about 3.6 million. But the frozen conflict has drained Kyiv's resources and effectively stymied its goal of joining NATO - which is enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution. With the Minsk deal stalled, Moscow's hope to use rebel regions to directly influence Ukraine's politics has failed. Residents are struggling to return to normal life as sporadic fighting between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian forces continues. A woman sits in a market that was destroyed during artillery shellings, on in Donetsk, Ukraine. The Minsk document helped end full-scale fighting, but the situation has remained tense and regular skirmishes have continued. Many Ukrainians see it as a betrayal of national interests and its implementation has stalled. It also envisaged that Ukraine could only regain control over the roughly 125-mile border with Russia in rebel regions after they get self-rule and hold OSCE-monitored local elections - balloting that would almost certainly keep pro-Moscow rebels in power there. The 2015 peace deal was a major diplomatic coup for the Kremlin, obliging Ukraine to grant special status to the separatist regions, allowing them to create their own police force and have a say in appointing local prosecutors and judges. A declaration backing the deal was signed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
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It envisaged a new cease-fire, a pullback of heavy weapons and a series of moves toward a political settlement. The deal quickly collapsed and large-scale fighting resumed, leading to another major defeat for Ukrainian forces at Debaltseve in January-February of 2015.įrance and Germany brokered another peace agreement, which was signed in Minsk in February 2015 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the rebels.
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