The Kiev tragedy

The country is in a limbo, still awaiting a real truce with Russia and the fulfilment of promises made by its leader, Petro Poroshenko.

A lot of talk and not much action. That is one way to describe the extended tragedy playing out in Kiev. More than two years after the Revolution of Dignity and fifteen months after the Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France signed Minsk II, nothing is clear: neither the future of the eastern Ukraine nor that of the financial sanctions imposed against Russia. But the fate of Europe’s second-largest territorial state, with monstrous economic potential and 45 million people, also plays an underappreciated role in the domestic politics of Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, and the Baltic States. Poland, which has made the disputed claim that it is hosting around a million Ukrainian refugees, and the Baltic States feel threatened by their Russian neighbour and are demanding that a strong line be taken against Moscow. But one hears the exact opposite coming from German, British, and Austrian businesspeople, who are eager to resume supplying Russian markets with finished products and agricultural goods.

The sanctions that have been imposed against Russia, due to both the annexation of Crimea and the Russian role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, expire on 31 July. A decision has to be made at the upcoming EU summit. On the question of sanctions, the opposing fronts demonstrate a split not only among the member states of the EU but also within the domestic political landscapes of countries like Great Britain and Germany. 

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