A meeting among President of Ukraine Poroshenko, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to take place today in the afternoon in order to discuss the situation in Donbass.
‘‘We are all responsible for the Minsk Agreement that determined the conditions according to which Ukraine can return to consistent relations with Russia and the EU. This is our goal," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said recently.
The Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, Vladimir Zharikhin, believes that today the Minsk Agreement can be called a compromise: ‘‘As a result of the implementation of these points, the current situation suits neither Russia, nor the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, nor Kiev, the EU, nor even the United States. So we can call it a compromise.’’
According to Zharikhin, the word ‘federation’ is perceived in Ukraine today like the name of Lord Voldemort [a fictional character in a series of novels about Harry Potter. Other characters are so afraid of him in the wizarding world that they even don’t pronounce his name, calling him ‘’You-know-who’’, or ‘’He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,’’ - editor’s note].
The political scientist probably made such an allusion due to the recent statement by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, who in honor of Independence Day proclaimed: "Ukraine has always been and will be. The New Russia is Tolkien's myth called Mordor.’’ ['The Dark Land', invented by J.R.R. Tolkien, is unique because of the three enormous mountain ridges that surround it to the north, west and south, and protect it against sudden attack. That is why the associations of the President of Ukraine can be interpreted in different ways, - editor’s note].
According to Zharikhin, the compromise may be in the fact that Ukraine doesn’t join either the Eurasian Economic Union, or NATO:
‘‘It is difficult to imagine that Ukraine joins NATO when the DPR and the LPR are a part of it. But Ukraine certainly doesn’t join the Eurasian Union. It is also impossible to imagine that Ukraine with the current leadership in Kiev can join the Eurasian Union… Russia reconciled itself to the losses that it will receive as a result of this agreement. The EU also accepts the losses that it will receive as a result of this agreement. But at the same time, the US didn’t reconcile itself to the compromise and therefore neither did the Ukrainian leadership.’’
According to Zharikhin, Washington and Kiev may have this plan: ‘‘Despite all the ritual calls for the unity of the country, Luhansk and Donetsk are leaving the political and economic area of Ukraine. That’s the first point. Secondly, they receive the uncertain status of unrecognized states. Russia is blamed for the failure of the Minsk-2 Agreement. In this regard, some peacekeeping forces are introduced to the dividing line. A Ukrainian border with Russia is out of the question. And the situation is frozen in this state for many years.’’
