EU leaders broker another ceasefire attempt

Макроэкономика 09.02.2015 In a concerted effort to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine over the weekend, the leaders of France and Germany successfully arranged a meeting between Putin and Poroshenko in Minsk this coming Saturday. While details of the proposed ceasefire plan are not public, rumors abound that they could mirror those in the Minsk protocol signed last September which were disregarded, but this time with binding amendments. Poroshenko supposedly has agreed to recognize the autonomy of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas that are under pro-Russian occupation. Ultimately, we are skeptical of the new Minsk agreement as we believe the Kremlin intends to continue destabilizing Ukraine and maintain its slowly simmering conflict.