The six-week-old crisis in Ukraine has been spiralling from bad to worse, with the threat of civil war and widespread violence looming ever so large over the eastern ethnically Russian region of the polarised nation. And with the deaths of at least three people there on Thursday morning, in the area proclaimed as the independent republic of Don Bass, those fears of violence seemed all the more real.
But now, given an agreement reached in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the US, it seems as if cooler heads are prevailing. And hopefully, the agreement reached on the macro diplomatic level can be translated into concrete developments on the ground in Donetsk, Lugansk, Slovyansk and all of the other towns there where separatists have taken control of the administration, security force offices and buildings. Under the deal, the buildings are to be vacated and handed back to the authorities in the Kiev government. The easing of the crisis should set the stage for the presidential elections to go ahead on schedule late May.
But reaching a deal is one thing, implementing it is another. On the ground, there is deep distrust in the pro-Russian communities of eastern Ukraine about the Kiev government. Those who have occupied buildings and manned barricades, believe their legitimate and democratically elected government was overthrown and their Russian language rights abolished in the new government’s first act. This deal needs to overcome those fears. Otherwise, the stalemate will continue.
