Ukraine Ceasefire Holding, But US Keeps Threatening Russia
Secretary of State John Kerry angrily condemned Russia today, insisting they are violating the terms of the Minsk ceasefire and threatening to impose more US sanctions on the nation.
That’s not generally news, it’s a virtual daily occurrence that some top US official does so. What is news is that the Minsk ceasefire is holding up incredibly well, and that the day came and went without even a single death.
The big violation of the Minsk deal is coming from the US-backed Poroshenko government, which is refusing to follow through on a promise to withdraw heavy weapons from the frontline, despite the rebels beginning such pullbacks this weekend.
The Obama Administration’s cynical interpretation of the situation in Ukraine is unsurprising, as they were openly opposed to the Minsk talks in the first place. The US is now making a big deal of parading military vehicles along the Estonian-Russian border, all the while insisting it is Russia, which helped negotiate the ceasefire that ended the killing in eastern Ukraine, that is being “aggressive.”