Hitting the Pause Button: The "Frozen Conflict" Dilemma in Ukraine

by Denis Corboy, William Courtney, and Kenneth Yalowitz

November 6, 2014 | http://nationalinterest.org/feature/hitting-the-pause-button-the-frozen-conflict-dilemma-ukraine-11618?page=show

For some time, Ukraine is likely to host frozen conflicts, in Crimea and the Donbas region. Elections last Sunday in the Russian-armed, rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine reinforced this. Moscow said the vote reflected the "will of the people," but the European Union called the elections "illegal and illegitimate." Ukraine will face difficult realities and painful choices in managing its conflicts. Georgia's experience with frozen conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia offers lessons for Ukraine.

“Frozen conflicts” describe places where fighting took place and has come to an end, yet no overall political solution, such as a peace treaty, has been reached.