UN Mediation In Ukraine Conflict

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has continued for over a year with no prospects of its end in the near future. The conflict is in the state of hurting stalemate in which both sides have suffered huge losses and casualties. In the war, tens of thousands of people have been killed on both sides. According to the recent statistics, more than 8.2 million fled Ukraine which is said to be Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. Extensive environmental damage, widely described as ecocide, and blockade have contributed to global food crises. The United Nations has deplored the Russian act and demanded a full Russian withdrawal. The International Court of Justice has ordered Russia to suspend military operations and the Council of Europe expelled Russia.      

Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and its ally Belarus, and provided humanitarian and military aid and sales to Ukraine. Protests occurred around the world, with anti-war protesters in Russia subject to mass arrests and increased media censorship. Over 1,000 companies have reportedly left Russia and Belarus in response to the Russian action. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam is possibly the most significant incident of damage to civilian infrastructure since the start of the Russia- Ukraine conflict in February 2022.

Positive indication

Amidst the escalating of the conflict, it was a positive indication to note that the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative agreed by Russia, Turkey and Ukraine had allowed millions of tons of food grains and other foodstuffs to leave Ukraine’s ports for almost a year. However, Russia recently took the decision to terminate the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative – including the withdrawal of Russian security guarantees for safe passage of food gains and other food stuff. This Russian decision is going to create problems with global food supply system as Ukraine known as the food grain reservoir supplies foodstuff to many food deficit countries in the world.

Of course, as a world body, UN has been active to help resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but its initiatives have not been able to make a dent and thereby reduced itself into a toothless entity. Not only in Ukraine conflict, has UN not been effective in addressing issues in most of the theaters of international conflict.  Needless to repeat, the basic purposes of the UN is building peace and keeping peace in the world. This is firmly outlined in the preamble of its Charter. It expresses commitment to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and regain faith in fundamental human rights along with the dignity and worth of the human person. It also aims to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and provisions of international law can be respected.

One of the forms of UN activity to achieve the objective of amicable settlement of interstate conflict such as the Ukraine war has been the use of mediation which is poplar worldwide as mechanism for alternative dispute resolution. Mediation facilitates the establishment of dialogue between the parties to conflict and allows for the adoption of mutually agreed process and solutions. It is a dialogue that is not subject to external pressure and scrutiny. It is conducted in adherence to the principle of confidentiality and non-coercion. Mediation as advocated and institutionalised by UN aims to maintain international peace and security by the acceptance of principles of amicable process of conflict settlement. 

Mediation conducted under the auspices of UN offers several advantages and benefits. Based on its nearly seventy years of work in this field, United Nations has more institutional experience and legitimacy in mediation and conflict resolution than any other organisations. It has extensive expertise in the implementation of peace agreements through deployment of multiple peacekeeping missions. Implementation of any mediated agreement rests upon the commitment of the state parties to the conflict. Unqualified support of Security Council is necessary in executing this initiative. However, in case of Ukraine conflict, veto by Russia, in particular, and its unwillingness to allow the UN to play the role for mediation has posed impediment in this regard.  

Basic norms

Mediation in the UN system may be initiated in response to a request from the Security Council, in particular, which, of course, requires preparedness of the parties to the conflict. Mediation teams in the UN systems are created and its mediators select work tools adapted to the context of actual situation on the ground. Moreover, it needs to be understood that mediation is a tool that can be used as part of the UN diplomatic work. However, some basic norms and conditions need to be present with a view to facilitate the process of mediation to reach to amicable settlement of conflict. 

These elements include willingness of conflicting parties to negotiate and conduct dialogue, cooperative environment conducive to hold mutual negotiation and flexibility for adoption of an appropriate mediation strategy and process. The possibility of carrying out effective negotiation and mediation activities is ensured by appropriate design accompanied with capacity building which consists of training for mediating entities and professionalisation of mediation activities. In mediation, conflict is not resolved and decided in a judicial win-lose way, which contributes to the satisfaction of everyone involved in the discord. 

However, as stated above, UN mediation efforts have not been effective enough to resolve conflict due to bellicose approach of the conflicting parties. Geopolitical situation and exigencies of the modern volatile and uncertain world requires a response that adequately addresses emerging problems including conflicts between and among the states in a more effective and directive way. There is indeed a need for a legally global sanctioning institution with a high degree of effectiveness than the current UN, which will ensure a probability of resolving inter-state conflict such as in Ukraine.

(The author is presently associated with Policy Research Institute (PRI) as a senior research fellow.  rijalmukti@gmail.com)