By Anonymous
The Ukrainian crisis started in 2013, when protests were held in Kiev over the refusal of Ukraine to sign a trade agreement with the EU. It quickly escalated to violence and political struggles for power, culminating with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian forces in the east, where two other provinces, Donetsk and Luhansk, declared themselves independent.
If you blinked you might have missed it. The 17th EU-Ukraine Summit in Kiev has come and gone without too much fuss. Little media coverage, few analyses, only a joint statement and Donald Tusk’s Tweeter feed to remind us that Ukraine and the European Union have met for the very first time under the new Association Agreement. It is also the first Summit to take place after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power more than a year ago. The importance and outcome of the Summit remain by no means secondary. If anything, resuming this high-level bilateral meeting signals a less volatile, albeit still dangerous situation in Eastern Ukraine
The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed on Sunday, 8 February, to press ahead with the diplomatic initiative by Ms Merkel to ease the tension in Eastern Ukraine. Germany is convinced that even discussions of supplying weapons could escalate the fighting and encourage Ukraine in a war it could never win against a much stronger Russia. The German Chancellor defended her decision to maintain economic sanctions and avoid the use of force by referring to her own experience of waiting patiently for the Cold War to end. “I am surprised at how faint-hearted we are, and how quickly we lose courage,” she remarked.
Ukraine, Russia and the European Union have agreed on a deal that would secure the resumption of Russian natural gas flowing to Ukraine in time for winter.
