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Abstract
This essay explores Russia’s involvement in the conflict in the Donbas by examining the extent to which Moscow’s contribution has demonstrated a governance approach. We argue that Russia’s engagement has remained in a perpetual state of flux due to contradictions in its policy, shaped by the interaction of a complex set of competing security logics. Opposing the view that Russia’s response is solely a policy of destabilisation, we put forward the view that Moscow’s behaviour has not ruled out a positive engagement in the settlement through the selective practice of certain norms and processes underpinning a governance approach.
Notes
1 ‘Lavrov Accuses West of Using Ukraine as a Pawn’, The Telegraph, 24 April 2014, available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10784310/Lavrov-accuses-West-of-using-Ukraine-as-a-pawn.html, accessed 12 March 2015.
2 ‘John Kerry Rips into “Putin’s Russia” over Ukraine Crisis’, The Guardian, 30 April 2014, available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/30/john-kerry-rips-into-putins-russia-over-ukraine-crisis, accessed 12 March 2015.
3 This essay considers the term neighbourhood to include those regions which have had a direct impact on issues of European security governance, such as the Caucasus and states situated along Russia’s western periphery, where the emergence of intra-state violence has been a consistent security problem.
4 The Donbas is used throughout the essay and refers to the oblasti of Donets’k and Luhans’k where the conflict is predominantly situated.
5 These interviews were conducted in two rounds of fieldwork in Moscow, in autumn 2014 with the support of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and spring 2015 with the support of the Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences (IERAS), and with funding provided by a European Union Marie Curie Action International Research Staff Exchange scheme (IRSES) entitled ‘EU in Depth—European Identity, Cultural Diversity and Political Change’.
6 See Derek Averre’s contribution in this collection.
7 Russia would not, however, have relinquished control over the mission to an external UN commander. See BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 30 April 1994.
8 Interview with Professor Aleksandr Nikitin, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Moscow, 1 October 2014.
9 Anonymous interview with a former Russian first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Moscow, 18 September 2014.
10 Interview with Dr Dmitrii Polikanov of the PIR Center, Moscow, 17 October 2014; interview with Dr Yuliya Nikitina, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Moscow, 21 October 2014.
11 Interview with the former Head of the OSCE Mission to South Ossetia, London, 3 June 2015.
12 ‘Georgia and Russia Agree on Truce’, BBC News, 13 August 2008, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7557457.stm, accessed 17 April 2015.
13 Interview with Dr Yuliya Nikitina, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Moscow, 21 October 2014.
14 Russia supported UN Security Council resolution 1808 (UN Citation2008) which called for post-conflict reconstruction in South Ossetia.
15 The Agreement on Alliance and Strategic Partnership between Russia and Abkhazia was signed in Moscow in late 2014 and came into effect in March 2015. On the signing of the Treaty on the State Border in February 2015, see ‘Remarks and Comments by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a Joint News Conference after Talks with South Ossetian Foreign Minister Dmitry Sanakoyev’, 18 February 2015, available at: http://archive.mid.ru//brp_4.nsf/0/026279F6BC64E29C43257DF0005FE3DE, accessed 19 April 2015.
16 ‘Pro-Russian Protests Appear in Strategic Towns in Ukraine’s South and East’, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 15 August 2015, available at: http://www.rferl.org/contentinfographics/pro-russian-protests-appear-in-strategic-towns-in-ukraines-south-and-east-/25334338.html, accessed 20 June 2015.
17 ‘Kremlin: Putin Denies Russian Role in Ukraine Unrest’, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 14 April 2014, available at: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-russia-putin-anxiety/25333073.html, accessed 20 June 2015.
18 ‘Comments on the Statement of Russian Deputy Minister of Defence’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 16 April 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/1032-omentar-departamentu-informacijnoji-politiki-mzs-ukrajini-u-zvjazku-iz-vislovlyuvannyami-zastupnika-ministra-oboroni-rf, accessed 25 January 2016.
19 Certain Russian academics agree with the official opinion; interview with Professor Pavel Zolotarev, Deputy Director of the Institute for US and Canada Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 6 October 2014.
20 Interview with Dr Nadya Arbatova, Institute for World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Moscow, 5 September 2014.
21 ‘Comment on the Refusal of the Russian Federation to Participate in the Meetings within the OSCE’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 10 April 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/991-komentar-departamentu-informacijnoji-politiki-mzs-ukrajini-shhodo-vidmovi-rf-vid-uchasti-u-zasidannyah-obse, accessed 25 January 2016.
22 ‘Joint Statement: Geneva Statement on Ukraine’, European Union External Action Service, 17 April 2014, available at: http://eeas.europa.eu/statements/docs/2014/140417_01_en.pdf, accessed 20 March 2015.
23 ‘Comment on the Steps of the Ukrainian Side, Aimed at Implementing the Geneva Agreements’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 18 April 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/1066-komentar-mzs-shhodo-krokiv-ukrajinsykoji-storoni-spryamovanih-na-vikonannya-zhenevsykih-domovlenostej, accessed 25 January 2016.
24 ‘Comment on the Steps of the Ukrainian Side, Aimed at Implementing the Geneva Agreements’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 18 April 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/1066-komentar-mzs-shhodo-krokiv-ukrajinsykoji-storoni-spryamovanih-na-vikonannya-zhenevsykih-domovlenostej, accessed 25 January 2016.
25 ‘Daily SMM Report’, SMM, OSCE, 19 April 2014, available at: http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/117859, accessed 9 February 2016.
26 Interview with Dr Andrei Kortunov, Director of the International Affairs Council (RIAC), Moscow, 2 October 2014.
27 ‘Ukraine Ceasefire: New Minsk Agreement Key Points’, BBC News, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31436513, accessed 15 March 2015.
28 ‘Comment Regarding the Provision of Humanitarian Aid to the Population in the Eastern Regions of Ukraine’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 30 May 2014, available at: http://archive.mid.ru//bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/22f387941232e03e44257cec00486fe1!OpenDocument, accessed 12 February 2014.
29 ‘Comment on an Official Note of the Russian MFA Regarding the so-called “Russian Humanitarian Aid” in the Eastern Regions of Ukraine’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 29 May 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/1484-komentar-departamentu-informacijnoji-politiki-mzs-ukrajini-shhodo-oficijnoji-noti-mzs-rf-pro-tak-zvanu-rosijsyku-gumanitarnu-dopomogu-zhitelyam-skhidnih-oblastej-ukrajini, accessed 25 January 2016.
30 ‘Comment Regarding the Provision of Humanitarian Aid to the Population in the Eastern Regions of Ukraine’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 30 May 2014, available at: http://archive.mid.ru//bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/22f387941232e03e44257cec00486fe1!OpenDocument, accessed 12 February 2014.
31 ‘Comment on the Blocking of the Russian Draft of the UN Security Council Statement on the Provision of Humanitarian Aid to South Eastern Ukraine’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 14 May 2014, available at: http://archive.mid.ru//bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/fc216870be040e3c44257cd900491440!OpenDocument, accessed 17 February 2014.
32 See, ‘Over 40 Russian Regions Provide Shelter for Ukrainian Refugees—EMERCOM’, Tass, 16 July 2014, available at: http://tass.ru/en/russia/740893, accessed 15 May 2015. At the time of writing 600,000 have left the country, mainly to Russia’s south western regions (UNHCR Citation2015).
33 ‘Statement on Attempts of the Russian Federation to Organize a Humanitarian Convoy’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 8 August 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/2118-zajava-mzs-ukrajini-u-zvjazku-zi-sprobami-rosijsykoji-federaciji-organizuvati-gumanitarnij-konvoj, accessed 25 January 2016.
34 ‘Statement on the Beginning of the Delivery of Humanitarian Relief Aid to Residents of Southeastern Ukraine who have been Affected by the Hostilities’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, 21 August 2014, available at: http://archive.mid.ru//bdomp/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/719009204c73849d44257d3c001e64e8!OpenDocument, accessed 5 April 2015.
35 ‘Ukraine: ICRC Calls for Clarity on Aid Convoy’, 12 August 2014, available at: https://youtu.be/X-X0melzLgI, accessed 15 December 2015.
36 ‘Statement on Attempts of the Russian Federation to Organize a Humanitarian Convoy’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine, 8 August 2014, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/2118-zajava-mzs-ukrajini-u-zvjazku-zi-sprobami-rosijsykoji-federaciji-organizuvati-gumanitarnij-konvoj, accessed 25 January 2016.
37 ‘UN Official Thanks Russia for Contributing in Relief Efforts’, NEOnline, 9 November 2015, available at: http://neurope.eu/article/un-official-thanks-russia-for-contributing-in-relief-efforts/, accessed 15 December 2015.
38 Interview with a former Russian first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Moscow, 18 September 2014.
39 Interview with Dr Vasilii Kashin, Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Moscow, 10 October 2014.
40 ‘Statement of the MFA of Ukraine on De-escalation Intents Expressed by Presidents of the Russian Federation and the OSCE Chair Switzerland’, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, 7 May, available at: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/press-center/comments/1251-zajava-mzs-ukrajini-z-privodu-vislovlenih-prezidentami-rosijsykoji-federaciji-i-shvejcariji-golovujuchoji-v-obse-namiriv-dejeskalaciji-situaciji-v-ukrajini, accessed 25 January 2016.