Whatever transpired between Obama and Putin in the telephone conversation that they had on Tuesday 10th Feb. 2015, we will never know. Neither will we know exactly what Merkel and Obama discussed on Monday in Washington.
What we do know is that the US has yesterday, as part of a Theater Security Package (TSP) deployed,
" .... 12 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft and
approximately 300 servicemen to a US Air Force base located near a
German town of Spangdahlem as part of a so-called Theater Security
Package (TSP), the US Air Force in Europe (USAFE) announced." (Sputnik : 11.02.2015)This Security Package will then be sent to,
" .... NATO-member countries in Eastern Europe.) (ibid Sputnik)
And today we finally have an agreement that has been reached after 17 hours of negotiations in Minsk.
As reported by BBC News (12 February 2015), this agreement includes:
- Ceasefire to begin at 0001 local time on 15 February
- Heavy weapons to be pulled out from conflict zones, beginning on 17 February and completed in two weeks
- All prisoners to be released; amnesty for those involved in fighting
- Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, weapons and mercenaries from Ukrainian territory. Disarmament of all illegal groups
- Ukraine to allow resumption of normal life in rebel areas, by lifting restrictions
- Constitutional reform to enable decentralisation for rebel regions by the end of 2015
- Ukraine to control border with Russia if conditions met by the end of 2015
What is even more interesting is that Putin himself has publicly spelt out this agreement.
For now we will sit back and examine the small print of this agreement. The issue of 'constitutional reform' is central. Does this mean 'federalization' or simply 'special status' for the rebel held areas of eastern Ukraine?
Furthermore, what conditions have to be met before Ukraine, once again, gets control of the border between itself and Russia?
Finally, there is still the question of Ukrainian Crimea that has to be resolved.
(to be continued)
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