The Minsk Agreements show that the signing of a peace pact alone does not ensure a durable end to conflict, the Security Council heard today as it met a decade after the adoption of Council resolution 2202 (2015), which called for the full implementation of those accords.
The international community must use the 10-year anniversary as an opportunity to "recall past diplomatic efforts towards de-escalation" as well as reflect "on what happens when peacemaking fails", Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said. He noted that in one week, it will be "three tragic years" since the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Highlighting the crucial role of regional and subregional organizations, he praised the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission for monitoring ceasefire violations and helping to maintain dialogue for "eight difficult years". Any peaceful settlement must respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, he said, welcoming all initiatives with the full participation of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Ensuring the conflict does not reoccur or escalate requires genuine political will and understanding of its "multidimensional complexity", he said.
Peace Activist Haunted by Dead Ukrainian, Russian Soldiers, Says War Could Have Been Avoided through Diplomacy
"The people of Ukraine are divided - they are either pro- or anti-Russian," stated Roger Waters, civil peace activist, who also addressed the Council today. To those questioning his credentials, he said: "I'm here to talk about war and peace and love, and my credentials are firmly in place." "Hundreds of thousands of dead Ukrainian and Russian soldiers […] are in this room with us today [and] they haunt me," he said.
Recalling the Maidan protests in Kyiv, he stressed that this is one of the problems with regime change - "dead bodies, they are somebody's loved one". Immediately after the Government change in 2014, Crimea seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation. "Did it secede or was it annexed?" he asked, pointing to a referendum held at the time, in which 95 per cent of Ukrainians in Crimea voted to secede.
The agreements - Minsk I, signed in September 2014, and Minsk II, in February 2015 - outlined steps for ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine through a political settlement. The latter accord stipulated a ceasefire in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the withdrawal of military equipment by both sides. It also included a commitment by Kyiv to organize local elections and grant special status to the separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine and the reinstatement of Ukraine's full control over its border.
Mr. Waters said that despite campaigning on the promise to resume Minsk II, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who came to power in 2019, did not do so, and in 2022, Russian troops crossed the border to Ukraine. This war could have been avoided through diplomacy, he insisted, adding that President Zelenskyy had started talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin and by the end of April 2014, a ceasefire agreement had been agreed upon in Istanbul. The war could have been a stillborn, but then United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv with the message that the war should be continued as it "suits the Americans" - "the longer it takes, the better".
Citing the telephone talks between United States President Donald Trump and President Putin as a potential move in the right direction, he concluded: "Maybe there is a glimmer of light at the end of this dark tunnel of war - it comes three years and hundreds of thousands of priceless lives too late, but maybe it's a start."
United States Committed to Ending Carnage, Restoring Europe's Stability, its Speaker Says
Washington, D.C., is committed to ending the carnage and restoring Europe's stability, the representative of the United States said, adding: "We want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective." Further, he added: "Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering." At the same time, he underscored that the Russian Federation has consistently undermined the Minsk Agreement; therefore, a durable peace for Ukraine must include robust security guarantees to ensure the war will not begin again. Describing Moscow's illegal war of conquest as "a strategic error", he said that "the easy way out is through negotiations". If Moscow, instead, "chooses the hard way", it will incur greater and escalating costs to its economy and losses on the battlefield, he warned.
New United States Administration Has Created Space for Diplomacy, Russian Federation's Representative Says
For his part, the Russian Federation's delegate said that "the entry into office of the Republican United States Administration" has created space for the emergence of diplomacy. Those who seized power in Ukraine, following the 2014 anti-constitutional coup, had no intention of implementing the Minsk Agreements, he said. Citing statements by various Ukrainian officials who described the Agreements as "a noose on the neck" and "not binding in nature", he said the Agreements were "a smokescreen" for Western countries while they provided Ukraine armaments.
Outlining lessons to draw from the failure of the Minsk process, he said European Union countries and the United Kingdom are "unfaithful to their word and they cannot be a party to any future agreement". Also stressing the need to provide autonomy to the east of Ukraine and guarantees for its Russian language population, he said that President Zelenskyy "is deathly afraid of elections and is doing everything possible to drag them out". A future Ukraine needs to be "a demilitarized neutral State, not a part of any blocs or alliances," he said, adding that it was the prospect of the entry of Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that triggered the crisis.
Entire History of Minsk Agreement "Long List of Violations' by Moscow", Ukraine's Delegate Says
However, Ukraine's delegate countered that the entire history of the Minsk Agreements "was a long list of violations" by Moscow. In 2022, "on this very day", "in this very chamber", when her country expressed concern about the buildup of troops along its border and other developments, the Russian Federation had underscored that there is no alternative to the Minsk Agreements, she recalled. Four days later, that country recognized the so-called independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. Among others, it never implemented paragraph 4 of the Minsk Protocol, concerning the establishment of a security area in the border regions of the two countries, she said.
"It is because people of Ukraine are pro-Ukrainian [that] the Russian Federation has failed," she added. Any future arrangement involving the Kremlin must include enforcement mechanisms and preventive measures, she stressed, adding: "What responsible States see as commitments to be upheld, the Russian Federation treats as a tactical ploy." Ukraine is working with its partners to find strong solutions, she said, stressing: "Weak agreements will not bring real peace; they will only lead to the greater war."
Other Council Members Weigh In
Denmark's delegate described the current meeting as "part of an ongoing disinformation campaign" to try and distract the international community from the subjugation of Ukraine. Welcoming Ukraine's ratification of the Rome Statute, she expressed support for a special tribunal to investigate crimes conducted in that country. While "no one wants this war to end more than Ukraine", the United Kingdom's delegate said, President Putin's preconditions for talks have been that Ukraine withdraws from large swathes of its own sovereign territory and abandons its right to choose its alliances. "No country could accept this," she said, reaffirming that London will provide concrete support for Ukraine for as long as needed.
"The Minsk Agreements were a diplomatic initiative designed to prevent further bloodshed and establish a political pathway to peace in Ukraine," said Germany's representative, adding that Moscow obstructed its implementation and chose to pursue expansionist conquest. "This war should not have been started in the first place," she stressed, calling on all States to unite behind the draft General Assembly resolution on advancing peace in Ukraine. Along similar lines, France's delegate highlighted the tireless mediation by Paris and Berlin, to enable Ukraine and Russian Federation to find common ground. However, Moscow chose war, he said, while Greece's delegate stressed that "no interpretation of the Minsk Agreements can ever justify the invasion of Ukraine".
"We need something more than Minsk III," Slovenia's delegate said, adding that the abstract nature of the Agreements allowed for multiple interpretations. Any future accord must be much be more specific with clear timelines, defined sequencing and a monitoring mechanism, he stressed. Similarly, Somalia's delegate underscored the importance of clarity, particularly in diplomatic tools, and said the implementation of ceasefire provisions requires robust and impartial verifying mechanisms. The Republic of Korea's delegate stressed that "the entire world is well aware of who is aggressor and who is the victim," also adding that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's support of the Russian Federation, with troops and munitions, is a grave violation of the Organization's resolutions.
Several speakers expressed concern about the failure of diplomacy, while others called on the international community to rally behind new diplomatic efforts. Since the onset of the Ukraine crisis, Beijing has been calling for a political solution through dialogue and has been actively engaged in diplomatic mediations, China's representative, Council President for the month, said in his national capacity. The legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, he said, welcoming the Washington, D.C.-Moscow agreement to start peace talks.
"We have been consistent in our calls for restraint," said Pakistan's delegate, as he expressed regret that the Minsk Agreement could not reach just and lasting peace in the region. "We must learn from the past so we do not commit the same errors," Panama's delegate added, stressing that dialogue and diplomacy is the only path to peace.
"The failed implementation of the Minsk Agreement cannot be the reason to prolong this war," said Guyana's delegate, reiterating calls for an end to the hostilities and for the withdrawal of Russian Federation's forces from Ukraine's territory. "Until this day more and more civilians are losing their lives, including women and children," pointed out Algeria's representative, while Sierra Leone's delegate underscored that "the conflict in Ukraine will not be resolved by military means".
