Reports say that negotiators have come to a deal for a potential ceasefire in Ukraine on Tuesday night. Leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are expected to gather at a summit Belarus on Wednesday to come to an agreement.
An attempt for a ceasefire had been made in September, which fell through. According to the New York Times, Ukraine said that it would like to stay with the same terms as the previously attempted agreement for this upcoming ceasefire agreement. However, reports are expecting Putin to push for a ceasefire agreement that includes new territorial gains by Russia since the last attempted ceasefire.
The exact terms of this potential ceasefire agreement have not been publicly released.
The likelihood of the ceasefire to come to agreement by all parties is uncertain. Ukraine has expressed optimistic sentiments, saying that it expects "a swift and unconditional ceasefire" to come through, according to a report from the Voice of America.
In contrast, Germany seems much more skeptical, as the Guardian reports that "the German chancellor has been frank about the prospects of failure," particularly due to its loss of trust in Putin.
French President Hollande expressed that this may be "one of the last chances" of coming to a peaceful ceasefire in Ukraine.
One of the major issues of argument is whether Ukraine should or should not be receiving aid in the form of weapons. European states are against supplying Ukraine with weapons, but reports say that President Obama has been considering giving lethal weapons to Ukraine.
Stephen Sestanovich of the Wall Street Journal asserted that if the ceasefire were to be maintained, "Ukraine needs military help."
"As was true in the Cold War, our goal has to be to avoid military confrontation," Sestanovich wrote. "'Containment' is the right strategy, and to make it work"”starting in Ukraine"”it's crucial to keep conflict from spreading. That means helping Ukraine succeed"”politically, economically, and militarily too."
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister, was quoted in the Voice of America arguing the opposite, saying that helping Ukraine by providing arms is "highly risky" and "counterproductive."
The fighting between Ukraine and Russia, and rebels in both countries, have resulted in over 5,600 deaths in the past 10 months.
