I suppose one should be grateful for even small gestures, and the news on the morning of September 3rd that Poroshenko might speak with the separatists of Lugansk and Donetsk should be viewed positively as a first step. It also brings to mind the saying “nothing is more permanent than the temporary.” [...]

Scores of casualties were reported as eastern Ukrainian militias were allegedly closing in on Mariupol port hours before a ceasefire pledged by President Poroshenko was announced. Authorities say they repelled the attacks and the city is calm. The fighting near Mariupol has cost the cost the lives of seven civilians, including two children, during the two days, Konstantin Batozsky, adviser to t [...]

Kiev officials and representatives of the two self-proclaimed republics in southeastern Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire, as the contact group met behind closed doors in Belarus. The two sides accompanied by representatives of Russia and the OSCE were meeting in the Belorussian capital, Minsk, in an attempt to end the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine. [...]

A new rapid reaction force, likely numbering at least 4,000 and ready to be deployed within 48 hours, will be created in Eastern Europe, after a decision by the 28 NATO member states following a conference in Wales. “This is a demonstration of our solidarity and resolve,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the summit, largely dedicated to Ukraine, and attended by the count [...]

Given the very high stakes of a nuclear confrontation with Russia, some analysts wonder what’s the real motive for taking this extraordinary risk over Ukraine. Is it about natural gas, protection of the U.S. dollar’s dominance, or an outgrowth of neocon extremism, asks Robert Parry. A senior U.S. diplomat told me recently that if Russia were to occupy all of Ukraine and even neighboring [...]

The removal of Kiev's coup-imposed authorities from power is the only way to restore peace and stability in Ukraine, opposition leader and ex-presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev told RT. Tsarev has blamed Igor Kolomoisky, the Kiev-appointed Dnepropetrovsk region governor and oligarch, for making “quite a large” contribution to the current violence in Ukraine. [...]

2014 has been the year of “Russian invasions”. But the farcical politicking and media charade surrounding Ukraine’s upheaval reminds us of the tale of Texas, and independent thinking too. Washington and Kiev would have us believe Russia invaded Poroshenko’s Ukraine. But Ukraine's Texicans* in the east have another story to tell. [...]

Some of Russia’s diplomats have joined a digital diplomacy row as they trolled NATO by “leaking” on Twitter the alliance’s “most convincing evidence” of Russian troops’ alleged presence in Ukraine. The Twitter account @RussEmbassyUAE, which is the official Twitter of the Russian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates, posted a picture of tiny toy trucks, tanks and armored vehicles al [...]

The self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk have come up with their own proposals to stabilize situation in south-eastern Ukraine, which include temporary ceasefire, 50km demilitarized zone, flight bans for Kiev and OSCE monitoring. The first and foremost step should be the announcement of a temporary ceasefire by both Ukrainian military and the self-defense forces starting fr [...]

Financing the military offensive in eastern Ukraine is now proving to be a major economic headache for Kiev. The cost of rebuilding conflict-torn eastern Ukraine may reach $8 billion, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has indicated. As long as the military offensive in the east continues, Ukraine has to further dig into its fast-depleting state coffers to support the operation. If the war continu [...]

The recurring motif in discussions on the sidelines of the NATO summit taking place on September 4–5 in Wales is this: “But what can NATO do for Ukraine?” The presence of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the gathering seems to indicate that the Western alliance has somehow made itself Ukraine’s guarantee power. But this is only true in a largely symbolic sense. In real terms, the [...]

PRAGUE — Andriy Kobolyev, 36, faces the daunting task of keeping Ukraine warm this winter. With tensions rising daily between Russia and Ukraine, Kobolyev, chief executive officer of Ukraine's state gas company Naftogaz, must try to negotiate a continued flow of gas from its Russian supplier Gazprom, weed out graft and corruption, and find alternative supplies from the European Union. Perhaps [...]

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko says he'll order a ceasefire for government troops fighting self-defense forces in the southeast of country if the meeting of Ukrainian, Russian and OSCE envoys takes place in Belarus on Friday as planned. "At 14:00 local time (11:00GMT Friday), provided the [Minsk] meeting takes place, I will call on the General Staff to set up a bilateral ceasefire and we [...]

Official Washington draws the Ukraine crisis in black-and-white colors with Russian President Putin the bad guy and the U.S.-backed leaders in Kiev the good guys. But the reality is much more nuanced, with the American people consistently misled on key facts, writes Robert Parry. If you wonder how the world could stumble into World War III – much as it did into World War I a century ago – a [...]

Ukraine has agreed to import 1 million tons of coal from South Africa according to Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. Fighting in the east has shut down production at half the country’s coal mines, and stocks will only last until November. The first ship has already been loaded for delivery to Ukraine, which has found itself in an energy-pinch since fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine. [...]

Barack Obama says the "door to NATO membership will remain open" for new members, while also urging the organization to help strengthen Ukraine's military. Germany has promised to send non-lethal aid, such as bullet proof vests and medical supplies. Speaking in Estonia, Obama did not explicitly point to Ukraine when referring to expanding NATO membership to other nations. [...]

Kiev must withdraw troops from southeastern regions of Ukraine and rebels must stop offensive to stop bloodshed, Russia's President Vladimir Putin says. He and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko discussed "a ceasefire regime." President Putin has outlined a seven-point plan to stabilize the situation in the crisis-torn east of Ukraine. [...]

Kiev retracted its earlier statement regarding a "permanent ceasefire" in eastern Ukraine, which followed a phone call between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. The new wording from Poroshenko's office talks of a ceasefire "regime". The Russian and Ukrainian languages use the word to mean “mode”, signifying the possibility of a softer, less permanent version of the previous suggestion. [...]

As long as Kiev continues to claim that everything that happens in Ukraine is Russia`s fault there is no serious prospect of there being any peace at all, John Laughland from the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation in Paris told RT. On September 3 Russian President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation concerning possible steps aimed at resolving the U [...]

Stephen Cohen on Russia-Ukraine Crisis As negotiations over the crisis in Ukraine begin in Geneva, tension is rising in the Ukrainian east after security forces killed three pro-Russian protesters, wounded 13 and took 63 captive in the city of Mariupol. Ukrainian officials said the pro-Russian separatists had attempted to storm a military base. [...]

The European Union may ban the "re-selling" of gas and limit industrial use as part of a contingency plan to create a stockpile for next winter, in case Russian gas stops flowing through Ukraine, according to a European Commission source. Foreseeing a possible halt in supplies over the political standoff between Russia and Ukraine, Europe has an emergency plan to stock up on energy supplies, th [...]

Human Rights Watch has condemned the illegality of Ukrainian actions in east Ukraine, ascribing direct blame to Kiev for the rising death toll in the Lugansk Region, which by local estimates has reached 300 since May. The organization visited the city on August 20-22, performing a survey of the situation and carrying out interviews with locals who in one way or another were affected by the heav [...]