By: Brady Noble
The Ukraine is in turmoil at the moment. Protests have erupted regarding the president, Viktor Yanukovych. Due to his plan to make the Ukraine closer to western influences. However, under his administration, his plans fell apart. Corruption became common in the Ukraine, and his policies tended to shift pro-Russian instead of pro-western democracy. As a result of these policy shifts, Ukranian people began to protest during the later months of 2013. The protesters demanded that Yanukovych revert back to his policies and that he resign. In late 2013, Yanukovych eventually fled the Ukraine. Soon after, Crimea voted to succeed to Russia. When the Ukraine deemed the vote invalid, Russia struck back by sending forces to the Ukranian border.
Within the crisis, there are two main factions: the Kiev Government and the Separatists. The Kiev Government is looking to handle the conflicts on the border, try and heal the division, and as well as attempting to solve internal problems such as the national debt. The Separatists are also attempting to create a new government. Their highest priority is to gain support, unity, and recognition around the nation. In the Government committee, several directives have been proposed, including the “Law Enforcement” directive, by Stepan Kubiv and Viktor Kryvenko. This directive looked at the possibility of supporting border protection across the Ukraine/Russia border as well as securing funds for a stronger police force. The funds for the police would be achieved by levying a 2.5% tax on all businesses in Kiev. In addition, the Kiev Government was interested in pursuing a two-week ceasefire.
On the Separatist side, there was a mutual agreement to a two-week ceasefire. There appeared to be both unity and division within that room. There was a consensus that it was important to figure out how much aid the Kiev Government was receiving from western democracies. In order to do this, the majority opinion was to send spies into the Kiev Government to understand how much aid was received. However, there seemed to be some division among how this was to be executed.