BALTIMORE, Maryland April 13, 2014 - When four-party talks were announced last week, they were welcomed by almost everyone as at the very least a step in the right direction. The old idea that if the parties are at least talking, something good might come of it. Of course, anybody who has watched international politics and diplomatic negotiations over the years knows that there are many many exceptions to that maxim. The four-party talks about the Ukraine situation - which are to include diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the United States - are already underfire.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the acting government of Ukraine believes Russia does not want the talks, scheduled to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, to take place at all. Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Andriy Deschytsia, said Russia is trying to disrupt the meeting Thursday that is scheduled to bring together representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States to seek a resolution to the Ukrainian issue. Russia has insisted that the Ukrainian delegation represent a broad sample of Ukrainian opinion, not just the views of the government in Kiev.
This is about the same as telling the Obama adminstration that the United States delegation at the UN must represent a broad spectrum of American political views, not just those of the elected administration. Since Ukraine obviously cannot meet that demand, the question becomes whether Russia will refuse to participate in the talks without such alternate viewpoints. Ukraine will hold elections in May for a permanent elected government. A pro-Russian government emerged from the last such national elections, but this time the tens of thousands of ethnic Russian voters in Crimea will not be participating in the Ukraine elections.
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