The Obama Administration has spent the last week making a big deal about its consideration of arming the Ukrainian military for its ongoing civil war with the east. Other NATO members seem to be undercutting that strategy by trying to actually negotiate an end to the war.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were in Kiev today talking with the Ukrainain government, and are now flying on to Moscow to try to get their report for a new ceasefire leading to a settlement of the conflict.
The Moscow portion of the trip should be halfway easy, with Russia pushing hard for the ceasefire and a settlement in Ukraine involving federalization. They’ll doubtless be on board for anything that doesn’t demand unconditional rebel surrender.
The US remains the biggest obstacle to such a deal, as they’ve opposed any deal that doesn’t include unconditional rebel surrender and disarmament, and so long as they continue talking up new arms shipments, the Poroshenko government can hold out hopes that US arms will turn the tide of battle and give them a military victory.
