Ukrainian interest. Stressor from Kremlin, mutual misunderstanding in Minsk and Obama’s gaffe

Vladimir Putin has started his political year with the interview with the German Bild, approved by the Kremlin censors and presenting most of his foreign policy objectives. The tripartite group has not progressed in the issue of Donbas settlement. Ukraine actually benefitted from Barack Obama's gaffe in the State of the Union address.

Time is working against the master of the Kremlin. Plunging oil prices bolster Vladimir Putin's foreign political action, since the lifting of Western sanctions is increasingly important for the Russian economy. Therefore, Putin has used Bild, the popular German publication, to voice his own vision of the situation in Russia and around the world. At the same time the Kremlin could not resist the temptation to correct some of Putin's remarks. Moreover, the censors went as far as also modifying the questions of German journalists.

The Russian president showed screaming resentment against NATO expansion and against the United States for influencing the European media. He went on to claim that Russia never violated international law in Crimea. Putin made it clear that a great number of today’s problems could have been avoided, had the West listened to him. The Russian president believes that it’s the Kyiv authorities who must be the first to implement Minsk agreements, so he chose not to mention Moscow’s own commitments under the deal signed in the Belarusian capital.

To be more convincing, Putin sent Russia’s new envoy to the Tripartite Liaison Group, Boris Gryzlov, to Kyiv, shaking up noticeably the post-holiday atmosphere in the Ukrainian capital. The Kremlin is well aware that the Ukrainian authorities could not refuse to accept Putin's diplomatic courier, as in this case, it would have been perceived globally as an unconstructive party to the conflict. No matter the agenda of the talks, Gryzlov’s uninvited visit, itself, was quite a stressor for the Ukrainian public.

Is it any wonder that the first Minsk meeting of the Contact Group in 2016 was no breakthrough, despite participation of Putin’s new entrusted intermediary. An agreement on the “25 for 36” prisoner exchange may be the only positive point as of today. Roman Bezsmertniy, whom the representatives of the pro-Russian militants wanted out of the Ukrainian delegation, along with Irina Gerashchenko, made it clear that there is not even a minimal progress in talks on political settlement.

REUTERS

Speaking on the occasion of the start of German presidency in the OSCE, the country’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for broader influence of the organization in Donbas. The announcement came amid following an incident with in Horlivka, where militants forced the OSCE monitors out of their vehicle and made them lay face down in the snow. However, in any case, the OSCE will continue its mission in Donbas as the situation in the region remains too tense. Meanwhile, Germany will try to intensify the peace talks on the eastern Ukrainian conflict settlement, to resolve one of the pan-European issues.

REUTERS

Barack Obama mentioned Ukraine, along with Syria, in his last presidential State of the Union address to Congress. However, many overseas political experts saw an ad-libbed gaffe in Obama’s reference to Ukraine, but the following interpretation of the White House and the State Department made sure that in Washington had not forgotten about the Ukrainian problems. Another formal confirmation of this fact is a six-hour meeting of Victoria Nuland and Vladislav Surkov held behind closed doors in Kaliningrad.

Yevgeny Magda

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