Virtual Roundtable: How Should Ukraine and its Partners Resolve the Minsk Conundrum?

The two sets of Minsk Protocols, signed in 2014 and 2015, currently form the main framework for resolving the conflict in Donbas. It is backed-up by the high-level Normandy Format meetings that include Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, as well as the Trilateral Contact group on Ukraine, chaired by the OSCE. To date the Minsk agreements have delivered inadequate results: most importantly, they have failed to ensure a lasting ceasefire. Despite their deficiencies, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared the implementation of these protocols his top priority, while also attempting to explore ways to update and reform them.

This event will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the Minsk Protocols. The speakers will provide an update on Kyiv’s effort to modify the agreements, especially with regard to the responses from other Normandy Format talks participants. They will also outline alternative approaches to the implementation of the Minsk Protocols and discuss how other international actors could help resolve the conflict. The discussion will draw upon key findings from Duncan Allan’s research paper The Minsk Conundrum: Western Policy and Russia’s War in Eastern Ukraine.