Foreign media digest 8 September 2014

WHO HAS BROKEN DOWN THE CEASEFIRE? UKRAINE OR RUSSIA?

If agreements on the ceasefire at Donbass are to be broken down, the West has no other choice as to impose more sanctions on Russia.
Times
www.thetimes.co.uk
The ceasefire accords suggest that Kremlin’s ultimate preference is for intervention short of full invasion.
Foreign Affairs
www.foreignaffairs.com
It would be a mistake to assume that the agreement guarantees a quick or easy path to stability for Ukraine, and that is because President Vladimir Putin of Russia has shown himself to be a reckless and unpredictable provocateur in creating the worst conflict with the West since the Cold War.
New York Times:
www.nytimes.com
Steinmeier: Через порушення перемир’я дипломатичні потуги “можуть швидко зійти нанівець”.
The Wall Street Journal:
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stresses “everything should be done to support and realize Minsk agreements.”. Further involving the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the region, he suggested, could be one way to help enforce and verify that the cease-fire is implemented.”We are ready to take part in such events,” Steinmeier said.
online.wsj.com
Ukraine’s request for antitank and antiaircraft weapons and military trainings were demurred. The West’s abdication explains Mr. Poroshenko’s decision to change course and agree to a cease-fire with Russia in eastern Ukraine. There’s no way to spin Friday’s deal as anything but a victory for Mr. Putin and a setback for independent Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal:
“American guns and missiles in Ukrainian hands wouldn’t defeat the Russian army, – the edition admits. – “But they might strengthen Ukraine’s diplomatic leverage and raise the risks for Mr. Putin. The Kremlin is lying about the presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil to confuse the West and for domestic reasons. Rising casualties and an open war against Ukraine aren’t likely to be popular for long in Russia.”
online.wsj.com
Some form of decentralized governance should be implemented in the war-ravaged region that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will accept and that President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine can deliver without turning his country against him..
The New York Times:
“Any agreement between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists would likely have to include some concessions to Russia regarding a new free trade agreement between Ukraine and the European Union — perhaps establishing a special trade relationship between Russia and eastern Ukraine,” the article states. At the moment, with public tensions running high and Ukrainian parliamentary elections seven weeks away, it may be difficult to reach a deal before the cease-fire crumbles.”“Talk about a bad time to be making massive political compromises,” said Samuel Charap, an expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington.
www.nytimes.com
Even if the truce continues, the chances to turn it into a permanent peace are weak.
The Sunday Times:
“If Poroshenko does not stand for Ukraine and allows Putin to be in the up position, we will definitely go against him,” Mykola Lysenko, a volunteer from Aidar battalion promised. “We expect the leadership from him, not the treason.”
www.thesundaytimes.co.uk
A fragile truce has been violated by armed gunmen, volunteers and mercenaries – the part of whom neither Kiev, nor Kremlin can control.
La Repubblica:
www.repubblica.it
NEW EU SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA.
New sanctions are not needed as long as the truce is accomplishing. – Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
YLE:
svenska.yle.fi
PRO-RUSSIAN ARTICLES.
The United States should refrain from intervening militarily or economically in the ongoing low-grade war between Ukraine and Russia instigated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Washington Times:
www.washingtontimes.com
The World Cup boycott can’t be an effective weapon against Russia.
Financial Times:
www.ft.com