A separatist leader in Ukraine has called the country a failed state and proposed starting a new one. On July 18 the head of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, called for the creation of Malorossiya (Little Russia) as a way to settle the long-running conflict in eastern Ukraine. Zakharchenko proposed a three-year transition to Malorossiya, whose capital would be Donetsk. The new state would incorporate other parts of Ukraine, including Luhansk and some areas not currently under the control of the pro-Russian separatists.
The plan met with immediate criticism from Germany and France for undermining talks to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. Other rebel elements in the Donbas were not much more enthusiastic. The leadership of the Luhansk People's Republic stated that it had not taken part in creating the proposal, and one representative expressed "great doubts" about the expediency of such a solution. Even Russian officials have backed away from the plan.
But the timing of Zakharchenko's proposal seems to be more significant than the content. The United States and Russia have recently been engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity over Ukraine and the standoff between Moscow and the West. U.S. President Donald Trump held his first sit-down meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7. The meeting produced a cease-fire agreement for southwestern Syria and talk of increased cooperation on cybersecurity. Then on July 17, U.S. Undersecretary of State Tom Shannon met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Washington. They were to discuss reversing the U.S. seizure of two Russian diplomatic compounds, perhaps in exchange for Russia's allowing construction to resume on a new U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.
Despite the increased diplomacy between Moscow and Washington, however, concrete and meaningful movement in the wake of these meetings has been hard to find. The Syria cease-fire deal was breached shortly after its implementation, and the U.S undersecretary of state and Russian deputy foreign minister failed to reach a resolution to the compound issue, though Ryabkov said talks would continue. The United States, meanwhile, has maintained support for Ukraine in its standoff with Russia; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Kiev on July 9, shortly after Trump's meeting with Putin. Tillerson called on Moscow to take the first step toward de-escalating the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and he pledged to keep sanctions on Russia.
As the United States continues to back Ukraine and as the peace talks stagnate, Zakharchenko's proposal could be interpreted as a sign that the separatists and their Russian supporters are dissatisfied with the status quo. Though the Malorossiya plan is unlikely to get off the ground, it signals the potential for increased fighting unless Kiev and Washington show more flexibility in the talks. It also gives Moscow plausible deniability when it comes to control of the separatists.
