The introduction of a peacekeeping mission in Donbass cannot but pose a threat to Ukraine, since it was initiated by Russia. Alexander Samarsky, an expert at the Russian Research Center, writes about this in the Ukrainian weekly “Zerkalo Nedeli”.
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“If the Russian Federation offers something or agrees to something, it means that it is ripe for another meanness. Consequently, if it proposes a peacekeeping operation and has agreed to negotiations on this issue, then there are clearly quite dangerous underwater reefs for Ukraine,” writes Samarsky.
The expert formulated three threats to Ukraine associated with the introduction of peacekeepers, the first of which is the need to implement the political part of the Minsk agreements.
“Can Ukraine refuse this implementation? Of course it can. But Ukraine’s direct refusal to implement the political part of the Minsk agreements, in particular the prompt holding of elections to local self-government bodies, could sharply worsen its relations with leading Western countries, primarily Germany,” Samarsky formulates the second threat associated with the peacekeepers.
The deterioration of relations with the West, the expert notes, is fraught with the complete or partial lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. And this is the third threat to Ukraine.
He notes that these threats together put Ukraine “in a position of chess zugzwang, when any move by a player leads to a deterioration in his position.”
“Let’s also not forget that carrying out a peacekeeping operation in Donbass will push the issue of returning Crimea not only to second, but to tenth place. It may disappear altogether from the agenda of the international community,” Samarsky concludes bitterly.