On October 1, in the Minsk Contact Group, Ukraine agreed with the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (DPR, LPR) to incorporate the “Steinmeier Formula” into Ukraine’s legislation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy directed his envoy, former president Leonid Kuchma, to co-sign the letters of acceptance along... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s marathon briefing (14 hours, billed as an all-time world record), in Kyiv, on October 10, was defensive and self-justificatory in purpose and tenor, responding to public protests that followed Zelenskyy’s unilateral concessions to Russia... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suddenly lost American strategic policy mentoring at a juncture where he needs it more than ever. The consequences came starkly to light in Zelenskyy’s 14-hour briefing for some 300 Ukrainian and international journalists, hosted by the head of state on... MORE

Kyiv has co-signed with Russia and the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (DPR, LPR) a commitment to: a) accept the holding of “local elections” in that Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine and b) accept the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) monitoring and assessment... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has yielded to Russia in accepting the Steinmeier Formula, a procedure for implementing the Minsk “accords” on Russian-defined terms (see EDM, September 17, 24, 25, 26). On October 1, in the Minsk Contact Group, Ukraine agreed to incorporate the core part... MORE

President Igor Dodon has effectively disavowed Moldova’s sponsorship of the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) resolution, adopted one year ago at Chisinau’s initiative, that called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova’s Transnistria region. Addressing the UNGA on September 26 (Presedinte.md, accessed September 29),... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. On September 18, in the Minsk Contact Group, the Ukrainian delegation, headed by former president Leonid Kuchma, declined to negotiate with Russia and Donetsk-Luhansk toward codifying the Steinmeier Formula into an... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The Minsk One and Minsk Two “agreements” (September 2014 and February 2015) dictated to Ukraine to accept a constitutional special status for the Russian-controlled Donetsk-Luhansk territory; to amnesty those criminally involved in seizing local administrations there; and to... MORE

Moscow exploits the new Ukrainian leadership’s inexperience as a chance to cement Russian control over Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk territories in a political settlement. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks eager for a quick-fix “peace” as a goal in itself, and he hopes for a meeting and... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The endgame that derailed the summit of “Normandy” group leaders (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine), planned for September 16, revealed the degree of the novice Ukrainian presidency’s readiness for concessions to Russia, as well as Russia’s all-or-nothing approach. This... MORE