Donald trump claims that he can distinguish a bad deal from a good. Now Vladimir Putin he has concluded a bad deal on the Ukrainian question. This is arranged by Pro-Kremlin rebels escalation of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, which has led hardly probable not to the most violent fights since then, as the Russian dictator invaded in 2014 to Ukraine.
Monday in clashes around the government-held by the city of Avdeevka, located to the North of the Russian-occupied Donetsk, killing at least 12 Ukrainian military. The organization for security and cooperation in Europe, which monitors compliance with the prisoner in the 2015 year of the truce, claims that in recent days she has recorded in this area about 10,000 explosions. Civilians, including 2, 500 children have been caught in the crossfire without water, light and heat.
Agreement on a ceasefire known as the Minsk II agreement, prohibit the use of heavy artillery and call on the parties to withdraw heavy weapons. However, the government in Kiev claims that Russian-backed separatists have used heavy artillery and Grad rockets.
Mr. Putin accuses the same Ukrainian forces, but this only underscores the main weakness of the Minsk II agreement — that is, the fact that it examines the warring sides as morally equal. The agreement concluded with the participation of Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande and supported by the Obama administration, ignores the fact that Moscow is the aggressor, and Kiev is trying to regain control over its sovereign territory. The escalation of violence on the part of Russia this week only further discreditied this document, which had looked like a diplomatic fiction for almost everyone outside of the German office of the Chancellor.
Of course, Mr. Putin is a master of unpredictable political moves, but we can assume that now he is trying to consolidate its territorial gains in Eastern Ukraine ahead of the “Grand bargain” with Washington, the subject of which may be the removal associated with Ukraine sanctions. For its part, Moscow can offer cooperation in areas such as combating terrorism and nuclear disarmament.
Mr. trump has already hinted at such a deal — including an interview with our colleagues at the Wall Street Journal. The problem is that such a deal would allow Mr. Putin to demand in exchange for the steps he would take in any case, complete freedom of action on the threshold of NATO. It can also create the precedent of unpunished violations by Moscow of the sovereignty of European countries.
So we were pleased when the US representative to the UN, Nikki Haley (Nikki Haley), said on Thursday that “terrible situation in Eastern Ukraine requires clear and firmly condemn the actions of Russia”. The administration can support the initiative by starting to cooperate in Congress with Republicans and Democrats seeking to toughen sanctions. After the lifting of sanctions in the absence of change in Russia’s behavior is such a solution which could take the predecessor of Mr. trump.
