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Fighting Follows Failed Peace Talks in Eastern Ukraine
Deadly clashes erupted in eastern Ukraine following the collapse of peace talks Saturday. Artillery attacks (Reuters)
killed five military personnel and one civilian in Donetsk Monday,
according to Kiev military officials. Officials also reported fifteen
civilian deaths over the weekend. Pro-Russia separatist leader Alexander
Zakharchenko called for a full mobilization of forces, vowing on Monday
to recruit (BBC) one hundred thousand men. The United States is reportedly considering providing arms and supplies (NYT) to Kiev, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is slated to visit Ukraine on Thursday.
Analysis
"In the long run, Putin will lose.
The people who will suffer most from his folly will be the Russians,
not least those in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. But the long run for
skillful, ruthless dictators in large, well-armed, resource-rich and
psychologically bruised nations can be quite long. Before he goes, more
blood and tears will flow unquietly down the river Donets," argues
Timothy Garton Ash in the Guardian.
"The annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine have thus helped Mr Putin to consolidate power
at home. But as the economy deteriorates, he cannot afford to let go of
eastern Ukraine and seems trapped by the logic of escalating conflict,"
writes the Economist.
"But if the evidence continues to accumulate that Mr. Putin and the rebels are carving out a permanent rebel-held enclave
in eastern Ukraine, à la Transdniestria, Abkhazia or South Ossetia, he
must know that the United States and Europe will be compelled to
increase the cost," writes the New York Times. | 
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