MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - Six months after protests began in Ukraine, the crisis in the country appears to be far from solved.
In an attempt to adopt policies that could help deescalate the conflict and find a constructive path forward, top diplomats from Russia, the US, EU and representatives of Ukraine's interim government met in April for talks in Geneva. The parties agreed on a number of conditions, urging the coup-imposed regime and its opposition in Ukraine to refrain from violence, extremism and provocations, to disarm militants and launch a national dialogue on constitutional reform.
Few of the provisions have been implemented, with tensions still rising.
Amid the failure to bring peace to the crisis-torn country, political analysts, activists and commentators have been looking for a possible resolution. The proposed solutions include calls to end the military operation in the country's eastern regions; to encourage all parties to the conflict to lay down arms and look at the economic consequences; and to urge US President Barack Obama to follow a path of peace and disavow NATO expansion, stop supporting a government with fascists members, and begin dialogue with Russia.
GENEVA-BASED SIX-STEP ROAD MAP FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION
In case Moscow and Kiev are unable to find a solution to end the Ukrainian crisis, government consultant and publicist in Germany Christoph Hoerstel has suggested a Geneva-based six-step road map for conflict resolution.
«Should bilateral talks between Russia and Ukraine prove unable to ensure peace and stability in the region, a second round of talks in Geneva (Geneva II) may be instated. In this case the following road map may prove helpful," Hoerstel said.
According to Hoerstel, the first step would be for Russia, the EU, US and Kiev agreeing on a date for a second round of Geneva talks. The talks should be followed by the exact implementation of the decisions the parties agree upon.
Step two would see «Ukraine's interim government disarm and sustainably dissolve within two weeks after setting the date of the Geneva II round of talks all private armed groups.» In the meantime the federalists would «implement utmost restraint in all activities."
Steps three and four envisage all foreigners involved in the conflict depart the country, including OSCE and UN personnel, and lifting sanctions against Russia.
Under step five, Kiev should withdraw armed forces from protesting regions, and the federalists should dissolve. Finally, step six would be the finalization of a treaty based on the Geneva II talks no later than September 1, 2014.
PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF WAR, CALL ON OBAMA TO FOLLOW THE PATH OF PEACE
Veterans for Peace, a global organization of Military Veterans, has issued an action alert, urging US President Barack Obama «to take definite steps toward peace in Ukraine," and finally follow the path of peace. In a petition published on the organization's website, they called on Obama to use his influence «to immediately halt all military activities within Ukraine and in the region, whether by the US military, NATO, the Ukrainian Army and police, or right-wing extremist militias.»
Veterans for Peace also urged Obama to «publicly disavow any wish to incorporate Ukraine into NATO.» Afterwards, the organization believes Obama should schedule a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin «to discuss ways to defuse the crisis and to respect the legitimate interests of the various parties."
Finally, the organization calls on the US administration to withhold support for the «Ukrainian government as long as it includes fascist elements."
«Mr. President, the people of the world are tired of war. Follow the Path of Peace," the petition concluded.
LEAVE IT UP TO UKRAINE TO DECIDE ON ITS FUTURE
US-based author and blogger David Swanson told RIA Novosti neither the US, nor Russia should talk about the fate of Ukraine, as Ukrainians have to decide on it for themselves.
«I\'m not sure the that US and Russia should talk about the fate of Ukraine so much as agree to leave that up to Ukraine and to offer actual aid without strings attached," Swanson said, commenting on the suggested roadmaps.
«Clearly the emphasis on talking, rather than bombing and shooting is correct and most important," he noted. «I believe the new president proposed talking pre-election and took a different course, at least initially, post-election. Citizens of other formal democracies lacking in democratic substance are familiar with that phenomenon."
ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES COULD BECOME A PLATFORM FOR TALKS
Peter Lavelle, host of the RT political debate program CrossTalk, said that despite difficulties in finding an acceptable political settlement for the crisis in Ukraine, a close look at the economic consequences could motivate all parties to sit down at the negotiating table.
«It would be wise for all sides in this conflict to consider the economic consequences of this standoff. Working together to save the economy may prove an important platform to talk politics later," Lavelle said.
«Any roadmap to resolve the escalating conflict must first and foremost start with the government ending its military operations in the east. As long as the Kiev regime uses force against its own people, there can be not political solution," Lavelle told RIA Novosti.
Last Sunday, Ukraine held a snap presidential election. Billionaire Petro Poroshenko, the preliminary winner of the election, said he would visit Moscow to talk about solving the crisis in the country's eastern regions. At the same time, Kiev issued a surrender-or-die ultimatum to self-defense forces in the besieged city of Donetsk. Poroshenko, who is ready to hold dialogue with Russia and the eastern federalists, said the special operation should continue and become more effective.
Commenting on the remark, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said intensifying the military operations in southeastern Ukraine would not facilitate a warm reception for Poroshenko.
«The Kiev regime must also accept the country's regions to the east and south will continue to look toward Russia if the people there feel discriminated against by the regime," Lavelle told RIA Novosti.
RUSSIA SHOULD FIRMLY WARN UKRAINE'S NEW AUTHORITIES AGAINST MILITARY OPERATION IN THE EAST
Rick Rozoff from the Center for International Journalism and Research at the Rossiya Segonya news agency told RIA Novosti that Russia should send a clear message to the new Ukrainian authorities that the «anti-terrorist» operation in the east should stop immediately.
«Nothing short of a firm and uncompromising warning by Russia that the one-sided slaughter near its western border must stop - and stop immediately - will have any effect on the newly-elected president of rump Ukraine and his announced intention of not only continuing but intensifying the putative ‘anti-terrorist' military operation against his fellow citizens in the east," Rozoff said.
«Nothing else, Not idle chatter, not impotent legalistic notions, not Utopian designs, not the mediation of US-controlled multinational organizations, not any number of such smokescreens will stop the butchery in Ukraine," he added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow was ready to become a reliable partner for the new Ukrainian leader and called on Poroshenko to seek genuine dialogue with all residents in the country's southeast.
«We believe he will act in the interests of all Ukrainian people. If so, he will find a serious and reliable partner in us," Lavrov said. «This is now the most important criterion to test the true intentions of both the Kiev authorities and Petro Poroshenko personally," he added.
