Project For A New State In Ukraine’s Breakaway Regions Rejected By Russia

This Tuesday, Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a breakaway territory of Ukraine, revealed his plans for the creation of a new country named Malorossiya, which means “Little Russia.” Although the proposal raised some attention from the international media, a spokesman from the Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov, stated that his country is committed to the Minsk Accords and does not subscribe to Zakharchenko’s initiative, BBC News reports.

The conflict in Eastern Ukraine started back in April of 2014, after the Euromaidan Revolution and the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Army. Rebel forces attempted to seize territory for the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Ukraine and managed a few military successes before losing their momentum by the end of that year.

Negotiations involving France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia took place in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, and eventually led to a cease-fire agreement, which did not last. The front lines changed very little since then, in spite of the constant fighting and artillery shelling. It is estimated that the conflict has caused more than 10,000 deaths.

The most recent cease-fire agreement happened on June 24 of the present year, but it collapsed within hours. Zakharchenko’s attempt to create an independent state from the rebel-held territories could further undermine the peace process, according to Reuters.

This conflict has been described as being something more than a simple regional issue. Moscow has been accused of controlling the rebels and also of providing them with weapons, equipment, and troops. Russian officials have consistently denied the accusations, but the truth is that they could not remain idle regarding the events beyond the border.

The safety of Moscow is of historical concern for Russia, especially since the city regained the status of capital in 1918. The western territories of the Soviet Union had a role as buffers against aggression from the European powers. Furthermore, Ukraine was vital to the Soviets due to its rich agriculture and industrial output. As Zbigniew Brzezi?ski once said, “with Ukraine (…) Russia actually becomes an empire.”

To these factors, we need to add the fact that NATO and the European Union have been expanding eastward.

The deployment of anti-missiles systems in Eastern Europe and Asia by the U.S., and the induction of the Baltic countries into NATO, gave the Russians the notion that they were being encircled. With the Euromaidan revolt came the possibility of Ukraine joining both Western alliances, meaning that Russia’s rivals would stand roughly 280 miles away from Moscow.

It was impossible for Vladimir Putin’s government to accept this, which is why the notion that it has been supporting the Ukrainian rebels seems so convincing.

From the perspective of Washington and Brussels, an unstable Ukraine is a potential safety hazard, especially given that the relationship with Putin’s Russia has remained less than ideal.

The Malorossiya proposal was suggested shortly after the talks between President Trump and Vladimir Putin, which took place in Hamburg on July 7. From them came a possible hope for a cease-fire in Syria. According to Stratfor, these agreements did not lead to an actual improvement of the relations between Washington and Moscow, though.

There is still a lack of real solutions for the ongoing diplomatic row regarding the seizure of Russian compounds in the U.S., with the Russian foreign minister declaring that his patience toward the issue was now wearing thin. Moreover, Secretary of Defense Rex Tillerson went to Kiev on July 9 to reinforce the American commitment to the Ukrainian government.

According to Alexander Zakharchenko, the state of Malorossiya would include not only the area of Donetsk but also other territories occupied by the rebels such as Luhansk. This new country is described as a replacement for Ukraine, and a possible Constitution was published online. Moreover, the suggestion was received with disbelief by the Ukrainian authorities, especially because the term Malorossiya is seen as derogatory by native Ukrainians, given that it was used to describe territories of the Czarist Russian Empire that are now part of Eastern Ukraine.

The leaders of the other breakaway regions have already distanced themselves from the proposal. Like Moscow, they declare they were unaware of its existence and do not support it. When the civil war started, there was also an attempt to create a new state dubbed Novorossiya, or “New Russia.” The concept eventually collapsed.

Evidently, there is a lot going on backstage that is not publicly known. One can safely assume that the talks of creating a new Ukrainian state could be used as a justification for some ulterior goals.

It does seem to show that the patience of the Ukrainian rebels is wearing thin. The lack of meaningful changes in the front lines in the last couple years led to the establishment of a status quo that may be reaching the end of its usefulness.

The name and nature of the hypothetical Malorossiya state could also point to an attempt of eventually annexing the entire region into Russia, a notion that has been floating ever since the conflict started. Such annexation probably won’t happen before the rebels advance further along the southern coast and form an effective land bridge between Russia and Crimea.

The rejection of the concept could also allow Moscow to plausibly deny their involvement in case the violence escalates again, and from that point of view, Malorossiya can be seen as little more than a political device for that very end. Nevertheless, it is improbable that the concept will ever take form in any practical way.

[Featured Image by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Images]