Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
By that definition, there were two insane participants in the “negotiations”over the war in Ukraine held in Minsk, and two sane ones.
The insane ones were the Euro “leaders”, Merkel and Hollande. They went to Minsk to negotiate a new deal with the man who flagrant violated the last deal then lied shamelessly about it, apparently in the hope that he’ll adhere to a new deal. Only the insane would expect that.
The man on the other side of the round table, Putin, is clearly not insane. He did the same thing as he did last time, but very much expected the same result. And he got it. That’s not quite true: he got a better deal this time.
Ukrainian president
Poroshenko clearly went into the meetings with no illusions. He could see that Putin was implacable, and that his erstwhile benefactors were intent on playing the roles of Chamberlain and Daladier in a reprise of Munich!, and that he
was cast in the role of Eduard Benes, watching his capitulation being negotiated over his head. He gamely dragged things out, but in reality it was three against one, and that one was in dire straits with a crumbling economy and a desperate military situation. He did the same thing he did in September, out of necessity, but I am sure he expects the same outcome.The cease fire does not begin until Sunday, and therefore it is inevitable that there will be a flurry of fighting in the next days, especially around Debaltselvo. Putin made it plain today that he expects the 8000 or so Ukrainian soldiers in the pocket to surrender. The implicit threat is that they will be crushed if they do not.
Even if a cease fire takes hold after Sunday, it will not last.
Putin has learned that violations have no adverse consequence, and that after some interval the fighting will start again and he will take another slice of Ukraine. And Merkel and Hollande will harrumph and express grave concern but when push comes to shove they will scurry back to Minsk to do it all over again. Insane.Wash, rinse, repeat. The low, dishonest decade grinds on.- See more at:
http://streetwiseprofessor.com/?p=9143#sthash.Btm8Jngq.dpuf
