MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the last chance saloon over the Ukraine crisis but appears to be doing little to get out of it. Since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down over east Ukraine, Putin has been under intense international pressure to persuade pro-Russian separatists accused by the West of shooting it down to stop fighting. But for now he seems more intent on bluffing his way through than on trying to use this pivotal moment to emerge as a peacemaker by ending a conflict that has caused the worst tensions with the West since the Cold War. The only sensible step now would be to stop the fighting in Ukraine immediately and begin a political process, said Dmitry Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Centre think tank. The tragic and sudden loss of so many innocent lives should put a final point to the armed conflict. Or it may put the international conflict over Ukraine on a much higher and more dangerous level. The choice is still to be made, but the time is running out fast.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:19:35 +0000
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