Weakened Russia eager for Ukraine compromise?
Russia’s economic woes may prompt it to seek a compromise solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, The New York Times reports.
However, the conduct of President
Vladimir Putin has been so unpredictable in recent months that Western
leaders are wary of sounding too optimistic, the paper writes.
With the value of the ruble plummeting, Putin has indicated to his Ukrainian, German, and French counterparts that he wants to cement a cease-fire that came into effect last week.
Ukraine agreed with Russian-backed separatists to restart peace talks 21 December in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, AFP reports.
The latest developments come as
President Barack Obama risks opening a rift with his European allies
over the implementation of tighter sanctions against Moscow, according
to The New York Times.
European Union leaders will discuss Russian sanctions and new economic aid for Ukraine at their summit in Brussels today and tomorrow.
At his end of the year news conference today, Putin said the Ukraine crisis “will have to be resolved sooner or later,” but “through political means, not just pressure.”
“For
many years we have been trying to improve the business climate in
Russia. I hope that the current situation will help us to diversify
[the] Russian economy.”
The Guardian's Luke Harding reports that the current lull in the fighting in eastern Ukraine “appears to mark a retooling of the Kremlin’s strategy.”
With
the ruble plummeting, Western sanctions biting and with the onset of
winter, Moscow has decided that the bill to unite Russian-speaking parts
of Ukraine as a latter-day "Novorossiya" is too large, Harding writes.
A Reuters commentary meanwhile says that with the possibility of a deep recession and brutal inflation in the offing, a meaningful de-escalation in Ukraine could change everything.
“But few expect Putin to take that path yet,” the commentary says
Source: TOL
As the White House
prepares to sign legislation to expand the sanctions, Europe has made
clear that it does not support such a move.
Addressing his country’s financial problems, he said it was important to implement the correct macro-economic policy.
The Guardian's Luke Harding reports that the current lull in the fighting in eastern Ukraine “appears to mark a retooling of the Kremlin’s strategy.”
Source: TOL
