On Wednesday 19 October, a debate took place at the European Parliament which included Andrey Piontkovsky, Russian writer and political analyst, Anastasia Kirilenko, Russian journalist, Oleksii Makeiev, political director of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Cabinet, and Alexander Hug, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of OSCE’s Special Mission in Ukraine. The debate chairperson, Rebecca Harms, (Greens/EFA, Germany), stated that “Russia is not respecting the Minsk agreements at all and the European Union is losing all credibility because it is far too flexible when it comes to implementing the economic sanctions planned against Moscow”.
The EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia following its aggression against Ukraine in the wake of the 2014 revolution. Two years after the signing of the Minsk agreements, which were supposed to put an end to the armed conflict in the east of Ukraine, Russia is, nonetheless, continuing to interfere in the domestic affairs of its neighbour, particularly through the continued occupation of Crimea and on-going skirmishes on the front line in eastern Ukraine. Kirilenko suggested that ”Russia possesses a rather creative interpretation of the Minsk protocol”.
In 2016, 173 Ukrainians have lost their lives to Russian shooting, which has increased the number of victims to 10,000 since the beginning of the conflict. Makeiev stated that "Russia is carrying out a real war in Ukraine. The EU must now put an end to its attempts to sweet talk Mr Putin because this has never worked. It is time to take action in the EU, because as an economic power, it has the appropriate resources to make Moscow step back.”
The positions put forward by the specialists invited to the debate all converged. In their view, it is imperative that the EU execute its economic sanctions against Russia in order "to put an end the bloodshed" in Ukraine; that the country’s borders be internationally recognised; that free elections be organised in occupied territories; and that Moscow "finally display a more democratic face". (Original version in French by Thomas Régnier)