Ukraine Crisis

                                                              “UKRAINIAN CRISIS”

  “INTRODUCTION”

The Ukrainian crisis is a story of the revolutionary spirit of 1989 and its nemesis, which is the Soviet Union, neither of which were thought to be alive in 2014. But both are alive. And every part of the world is going to feel the shock of their confrontation. The crisis stems from more than twenty years of weak governance, a lopsided economy dominated by oligarchs, heavy reliance on Russia, and sharp differences between Ukraine’s linguistically, religiously, and ethnically distinct eastern and western halves. Even among the sordid histories of Eastern Europe, Ukraine is particularly tragic.  Over the centuries, Ukraine was ruled by the Mongols, the Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland before it was overtaken by the Russian Empire. It declared its formal independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. But with the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, Ukraine now became overlapping spheres of the “European Union” and the “Russian Federation”. The “US” is also “involved” in the Ukraine issue because US does support anti-russian actions only to show “US” is still the “strongest country”, and when they say stop, everybody will obey. This is "war for prestige". The only trap in the situation is that both US and Russia has a lot to lose in this situation. US would lose a huge influence if she cannot solve the situation. Russia would lose Ukraine in case of win, but on lost it will be clear that Russia is just a shadow of the old USSR.

                                                                                                                        Crimea is strategically important as a base for the Russian army. Crimea still has a 60 per cent Russian population. Relations have been tense between Russia and Ukraine since the peninsula formally became part of Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.   After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a 1997 treaty with Ukraine allowed Russia to keep its Black Sea Fleet pretty much intact (with 15,000 personnel currently stationed) and lease the base at Sevastopol (extended to expire in 2042). The Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation – by which Russia rents its naval base at Sevastopol from the Ukrainian government. In 2008 the Ukrainians said they would not renew the lease when it expired in 2017. But they buckled under the pressure of a gas-price hike and, in 2010, extended the Russian navy’s lease until 2042.

“BACKGROUND”

The country of forty-five million people has struggled with its identity since it gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine has failed to resolve its internal divisions and build strong political institutions, hampering its ability to implement economic reforms, overcome corruption, and lessen the sway of powerful oligarchs. In the decade following its independence, successive presidents allowed oligarchs to gain increasing control over the economy while repression against political opponents intensified. By 2010, Ukraine’s fifty richest people controlled nearly half of the country’s “GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)”. Russia has strong fraternal ties with Ukraine dating back to the ninth century and the founding of  Kievan Rus, the first eastern Slavic state, whose capital was Kiev. Ukraine was part of Russia for centuries and the two continued to be closely aligned through the Soviet period, when Ukraine and Russia were separate republics. Ukraine is also an economic partner that Russia would like to incorporate into its proposed Eurasian Union, a customs union due to be formed in January 2015 whose likely members include Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia. Ukraine’s membership would increase the union’s population “by a solid 27 percent,” Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine with its own parliament and laws that permit the use of the Russian language in everyday life and empower local representatives to levy taxes. The peninsula only became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev transferred it from the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in what was seen as a largely symbolic administrative move within the Soviet Union. The majority-Russian residents of Crimea continued to have strong ties with Russia.

  “IMPACT AND EFFECT OF THE ISSUE”

The “UKRAINIAN CRISIS” is a serious ongoing global issue. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and possible future incursions into eastern Ukraine could reshape the geopolitical map of Europe and derail cooperation between Moscow and the West for years to come. Given the current tensions, it seems highly likely that wider US-Russian co-operation will become harder. That matters: without agreement between Moscow and Washington, a deal would not have been possible after last year's Syrian chemical weapons crisis, which briefly threatened a dangerous escalation of the war. And Syria’s agony is still far from war. On another sensitive front, analysts have warned that Iran may feel emboldened by the confrontation between Russia and the US, because so much depends on their collaboration. “The US urgency to make peace [with Iran], along with Russia's interest in impeding Washington's progress, could temporarily boost Tehran's leverage in talks with Washington." Barrack Obama has said the United States will levy new sanctions against Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow's alleged provocations in Ukraine.

With the crisis continuing to deepen in Ukraine, concern is growing in neighboring Turkey about the economic fallout, but Ankara also sees opportunities.
Rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia are putting regional neighbor Turkey in an increasingly difficult position, having close political and economic ties with its Western allies and Moscow.

  “STEPS TAKEN BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY”

Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis in Ukraine cannot keep up with the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground. After an initial burst of optimism that the diplomats might have negotiated a way out of the crisis, the great Geneva hope for peace in Ukraine is dead in the water.

         International reactions to the 2014 Crimean crisis (and to the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine) have almost always been condemnatory of Russia's decision to intervene, supportive of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while also supportive of finding a quick end to the crisis. The United States and the European Union threatened and later enacted sanctions against Russia for its role in the crisis, and urged Russia to withdraw.

           “DIFFERENT ORGANISATIONS HAVING SPEECHES ON UKRAINE ISSUE”

                                                “SUPRANATIONAL BODIES”

“NATO”:  The North Atlantic Council condemned what it called Russia's military escalation in Crimea and called it a breach of international law. It also called on Russia to respect its obligations under the UN Charter, the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Ukraine of 1997 and the legal framework regulating the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

“UNO”:

            ON 1^ST MARCH UN-SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON delivered a statement saying that he was "gravely concerned about the deterioration of the situation" in Ukraine and planned to speak shortly with Putin. It also called for "full respect for and preservation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine" and demanded "immediate restoration of calm and direct dialogue between all concerned."

                                                “UN MEMBER STATES”

“INDIA”:

             National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon stated "We are watching what is happening in Ukraine with concern... The broader issues of reconciling various interests involved and there are, after all, legitimate Russian and other interests involved and we hope those are discussed, negotiated and there is a satisfactory resolution to them".

“PAKISTAN”:  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ms. Tasnim Aslam, in a weekly press briefing, expressed hope that the political crisis in Ukraine will be resolved through peaceful means and stated that talks and diplomacy were the only option to calm down the situation.

“CHINA”:

             On March 2, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang stated that China condemned the recent extremist violence in the country and urged all parties to resolve their internal disputes peacefully. China has always followed the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, and respected Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He urged all sides to find a solution through dialogue on the basis of international law and the norms governing international relations.

           

            “RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESOLVING UKRAINE ISSUE”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has offered the US and the EU to form an international support group for Ukraine to help the country elaborate a new constitution, conduct an all-people's referendum and then organize nationwide elections.

The Ukrainian parliament must without delay convene a constitutional assembly, with equal representation of all Ukrainian regions for the preparation of a new Federal Constitution, which would include the following principles:

The rule of law, protection of human rights and the rights of all national minorities, freedom of speech and activities of political parties and mass media, as well as other principles that would secure the political system of Ukraine as a democratic sovereign federate state with neutral military-political status;

Russian language along with Ukrainian language will be given the status of a second state language. The other languages will receive status in accordance with the European Convention on regional and minority languages.