This month, thousands of Ukrainians have been demonstrating against the so-called “Steinmeier Formula”. Back in 2016, in order to overcome the impasse over the implementation of the Minsk agreements, Frank-Walter Steinmeier – then Germany’s foreign minister and now president – suggested a step-by-step plan to halt the war in Donbas by preparing the ground for elections in the non-governmentally controlled areas (NGCA). According to this plan, elections were supposed to be held in line with Ukrainian legislation and monitored by OSCE election missions. Steinmeier also proposed that the so-called “Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples’ Republics” (LDPR) receive temporary special status during these local elections, which would only become permanent when OSCE observers declared them to be free, fair and transparent.
More than five years since the beginning of the war in East Ukraine, the decision by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government to implement the “Steinmeier formula” may well give the gridlocked conflict - which has caused the death of more than 13,000 people so far - a new dynamic. Indeed, in both his presidential and parliamentary campaign, President Zelenskyy has promised that he will bring peace to Ukraine. Yet the new president’s decision to hit the ground running by confirming that he accepts the plan has caused controversy all over the country.
In an attempt to calm the situation and defend himself against public accusations of giving in to Russia, Zelenskyy insists that he has not capitulated on any “red lines”. In line with the Ukrainian position in 2015, when the Minsk agreements were signed, Zelenskyy confirmed that elections can only take place in the NGCA when Ukraine regains full control of its border with Russia, during a stable ceasefire and after the Russian-backed separatists and armaments disengage.
