(NewsNation Now) — U.S. authorities have warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to a set of agreements designed to end a separatist war by Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.
In 2015, Russia and Ukraine worked out a peace deal to stop fighting. But unfortunately, it didn’t work; here is a look at the agreements signed in Minsk in 2014 and 2015.
What’s known as the Minsk peace accords or Minsk agreements came after five months of conflict that led to thousands of deaths, but more people have died since the accords were signed than before.
MINSK I
Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists agreed on a 12-point ceasefire deal in the Belarusian capital in September 2014.
Its provisions included prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons, five months into a conflict that had by then killed more than 2,600 people — a toll that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says has since risen to around 15,000.
The agreement quickly broke down, with violations by both sides.
MINSK II
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions signed a 13-point agreement in February 2015.
The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, gathered in Minsk simultaneously, issued a declaration of support for the deal.
It set out military and political steps that remain unimplemented. A major blockage has been Russia’s insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms.
Point 10, for example, calls for the withdrawal of all foreign armed formations and military equipment from the two disputed regions, Donetsk and Luhansk: Ukraine says this refers to forces from Russia, but Moscow denies it has any forces there.
The 13 points were, in brief:
1. An immediate and comprehensive ceasefire
2. Withdrawal of all heavy weapons by both sides
3. Monitoring and verification by the OSCE
4. To start a dialogue on interim self-government for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, in accordance with Ukrainian law, and acknowledge their special status by parliamentary resolution.
5. A pardon and amnesty for people involved in the fighting
6. An exchange of hostages and prisoners.
7. Provision of humanitarian assistance.
8. Resumption of socio-economic ties, including pensions.
9. Restoration of full control of the state border by the government of Ukraine.
10. Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment and mercenaries.
11. Constitutional reform in Ukraine, including decentralization, with specific mention of Donetsk and Luhansk.
12. Elections in Donetsk and Luhansk on terms to be agreed with their representatives.
13. Intensifying the work of a Trilateral Contact Group comprising representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE.
WHY DIDN’T THE MINSK ACCORDS WORK?
Russia and Ukraine interpreted the accords very differently.
Russia thinks its proxy states will have full voting power in the Ukrainian government, including the ability to veto Ukraine’s entrance into NATO.
However, Ukraine says an election in the region must be held first and any powers granted would not include “veto power” over foreign policy decisions.
In September, this came to a head when Russia allowed those in the Donbas who had Russian passports to vote in its elections, a move Ukraine called preemptively recognizing the separatist states.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine no longer exists and that there was nothing left to fulfill, but he blamed Kyiv instead of Moscow for killing it off.
He made the comments at a news conference in Moscow a day after he formally recognized two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Putin said that Moscow had recognized the two breakaway republics within the boundaries of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, swaths of which are controlled by Ukrainian government forces.
Reuters contributed to this report.