DONETSK, Ukraine – "Read between the lines: This is now a frozen conflict."
That’s how a senior Ukrainian official described the result of a recent cease-fire agreement between Kiev and Moscow
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stopped short, however, of acknowledging that Ukraine has effectively surrendered a swath of territory that accounts for 15 percent of its population –- about 6.8 million people –- and 15 percent of its GDP, and allowed for the beginning of a new separatist mini-state.
Currently, Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels are holding their lines, having pulled back heavy artillery to create a 20-mile buffer zone –- a key component of the agreement. Bolstering the case for a frozen conflict is the law first supported by President Petro Poroshenko and passed by Ukraine’s parliament last week granting separatists "special status," which allows the heavily armed separatists three-years of limited self-rule; the ability to create their own police forces and to hold their own local elections in December. Read more...
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