New fighting in Ukraine: A prelude to peace talks?

The surge in violence around Donetsk's airport between government forces and Russia-backed rebels looks like a return to war. But analysts say it may actually be diplomatic positioning ahead of future talks.

|
Army.SOS/Handout/Reuters
An aerial shot shows the terminal building of the Sergey Prokofiev International Airport damaged by shelling during fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The video was taken on Jan. 15 via a drone by Army.SOS, a Ukrainian group that supports the army by buying ammunition, food, and supplies for soldiers.

The Minsk peace accords appear to be in tatters as the hope for further negotiations between Moscow and Kiev recedes, fighting intensifies, and Ukraine accuses Russia of sending in more troops to bolster east Ukrainian rebels.

Barely 10 days ago the picture looked much more hopeful. But then preparations for a critical peace summit involving leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany collapsed amid a storm of recriminations and both sides began girding for renewed war.

The focus of the new fighting is the shattered hulk of Sergey Prokofiev Airport just outside Donetsk, which has been utterly destroyed in ongoing battles that reminds many observers of World War II's Stalingrad. The airport, a critical symbol for both sides, has changed hands repeatedly. Fighting has intensified over the past week as Kiev has plowed in tanks and troops to stem a rebel offensive.

Though it has no utility as an airport in the foreseeable future, the territory is an important forward position for Ukrainian forces. Their ability to shell the city of Donetsk and its surrounding area from it may account for the ferocity with which both sides continue to contest the place.

The question now is whether the tenuous Minsk accords, whose ceasefire has been more-or-less successful in stabilizing the conflict for four months, are now dead?

Portents of renewed war abound. Ukraine has announced a "partial mobilization" that will put 50,000 fresh troops into the field within months. On Tuesday, Ukraine accused Russia of pouring troops and materiel into embattled east Ukraine in quantities not seen since the huge battles of late summer, which led to Ukrainian defeat followed by the Minsk peace talks.

Russia denies inserting any forces at all, and warned Tuesday that what it describes as Kiev's resumption of hostilities near Donetsk could undermine any hope for a negotiating process, including possible plans to bring Ukrainian, Russian, German, and French foreign ministers together in Berlin on Wednesday.

But Sergei Strokan, foreign affairs columnist with the Moscow daily Kommersant, says that a complicated diplomatic game is probably afoot, rather than a full-scale return to war.

"Neither side has overwhelming superiority, and therefore no one is going to risk going on the offensive at this point," he says. "What we're seeing in the airport fighting is attempts to exert psychological pressure, and to improve bargaining positions when peace talks do resume."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has also dropped a few hints that the recent spike in fighting could actually be a prelude to fresh peace initiatives.

"Despite escalation of pressure and activation of terrorists, Ukraine is ready to sign the ceasefire agreement given the adherence to the Minsk agreements," he said on his official website Monday.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to New fighting in Ukraine: A prelude to peace talks?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0120/New-fighting-in-Ukraine-A-prelude-to-peace-talks
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe