The agreement was drawn-up by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which consisted of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE. The group was established in June 2014 as a way to facilitate dialogue and resolution of the strife across eastern and southern Ukraine. Meetings of the group, along with informal representatives of the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, took place on 31 July, 26 August, 1 September, and 5 September 2014.

Protocol

The text of the protocol consists of twelve points:

The possibility of a political solution in Ukraine can only consist of a special autonomous status for the Donbas region within Ukraine. This solution corresponds to history and local reality, because the Donbas is in fact a region with its own culture and traditions.

Extent of corruption

Corruption is a serious problem in Serbia, affecting the everyday lives of its citizens and hampering economic development. Corruption is ranked as the most important problem identified by businesses in making a decision for starting economic activities. Serbia tops the Balkan states for illegal financial flows with an estimated US$5 billion disappearing every year through illicit flows, including the proceeds of crime, corruption and tax evasion.

There is no regulation or a job description for lobbyists in any official document issued by the Croatian government. Professional lobbyists in Croatia have thus been working under dubious conditions for the last 20 years, some of them as business consultants and others as lawyers under the protection of Croatian labour law.

In Croatia, lobbying is considered as ”selling influence” and this causes lots of problems in the not-yet-defined lobbyist profession.

USAID's Business Enabling Project (BEP) did help Serbian business associations improve their advocacy and lobbying skills by collaborating with them in a process that included:

In October 2014, the Montenegro's government  approved a new bill that imposes limits, rules and penalties on lobbying. With penalties of up to € 20,000, the government aims to curb lobbying-related corruption in the public sector - the illegal involvement of public officials, failures to report contacts with lobbyists, as well as receipts of gifts and services.

1. New proposal to solve the conflict must be based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity;
2. Deal must be acceptable to all parties;
3. Negotiations to discuss what concrete steps the three states (France, Germany and Russia) could take to bring about a rapid halt to the civil war in southern Ukraine. If a compromise is reached all parties involved in the negotiating process, this would avert the further escalation of the conflict.

Options 

Strengths

Strengths

In comparison to Russia, Ukraine faces a gap in defence capabilities so enormous that it is difficult to exaggerate. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the best source of data for comparing defence spending, in 2013 Ukraine’s total military budget was a mere 6% of Russia’s ($5.3bn versus $87bn). And that is just the headline spending figures.