Failed Ceasefire in Ukraine

abcnews.org

abcnews.org

Kolton Quick, A&E Editor

The situation in Ukraine is consistently evolving, and it seems to keep getting worse. It began when the Ukrainian government refused to sign a political agreement with the European union. From that point, the crisis evolved rapidly to corruption and regime change. Demonstrations started in Kiev, which consisted mainly of students and young people. The protestors created these demonstrations in an opportunity to fight corruption.

On Tuesday, February 17, five more Ukrainian service members have been killed, which is a sign that the truce between the government and pro-Russian separatists is failing.

Apparently there was a ceasefire, but people are still being killed. The U.N. Security Council jumped into the situation, and they voted 15-0 to call on all parties to abide by the ceasefire.

“We’ve gotten used to living in an upside down world with respect to Ukraine. Russia speaks of peace and then fuels conflict. Russia signs agreements and then does everything within its power to undermine them,” said Samantha Power, a US ambassador in the United Nations.

“We are caught in a deadly feedback loop. International leaders engage in rigorous exhaustive negotiations to get Russia to commit to peace…yet Russia’s commitments have no bearing on the actions of its soldiers and the separatists they back on the ground,” she said.

The Ukrainian Defense spokesman Andriy Lysenko reported 129 violations of the ceasefire since it went into effect and five deaths. All of the international efforts to stop the bloodshed have appeared to fail.

The next steps of the situation appear unclear, but as nobody abides by the ceasefire, and more violence is occurring daily, the situation doesn’t look like it will change anytime soon.