Ukraine in Arabic | Guardian View of war in Ukraine: maintain the pressure on Russia

20.01.2015 - 17:20 #Ukraine, #Donetsk

Donetsk airport, its runways cratered by shelling, its buildings battered and its control tower decapitated, is a modern ruin that has long ceased to function. To lose lives over it seems senseless. Yet such is its symbolism for both sides that the fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists there goes on unabated, with the Ukrainians now claiming to have recaptured ground they had earlier lost.

Kiev/Ukraine in Arabic/ Donetsk airport, its runways cratered by shelling, its buildings battered and its control tower decapitated, is a modern ruin that has long ceased to function. To lose lives over it seems senseless. Yet such is its symbolism for both sides that the fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists there goes on unabated, with the Ukrainians now claiming to have recaptured ground they had earlier lost.

Meanwhile, diplomacy has all but stalled. As the shells and missiles flew on Monday in eastern Ukraine, Europe's foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, determined that there were no grounds for any relaxation of sanctions.

The strategic plan developed by the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, for a graduated reduction in sanctions in return for Russian concessions and cooperation in Ukraine and elsewhere has been set aside, as most people expected it would be, until the situation changes in a fundamental way.

Ukraine today