In news– Recently, the USA has warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to a set of agreements (MINSK) designed to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.
About Minsk agreements-
The Minsk Protocol was an agreement aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas area. Following are the two sets of agreements that were signed in Minsk in 2014 and 2015:
MINSK I-
- Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatists agreed a 12-point ceasefire deal in the capital of Belarus in September 2014.
- Its provisions included prisoner exchanges, deliveries of humanitarian aid and the withdrawal of heavy weapons.
- The agreement quickly broke down, with violations by both sides.
MINSK II-
- It is a 13-point agreement signed in February 2015 in Minsk.
- It was signed by Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the leaders of two pro-Russian separatist regions.
- The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine gathered there at the same time and issued a declaration of support for the deal.
- The deal set out a series of 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.
Russo-Ukrainian War-
- It is an ongoing and protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in February 2014.
- The war has centered on the status of the Ukrainian regions of Crimea and Donbas.
- In 2014 Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in what was the first time a European country annexed territory from another country since World War Two.
Source: The Indian Express
