When Vladimir Putin laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Kremlin walls on Sunday, it was billed as a peace gesture to commemorate the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany 73 years ago.
The Russian president’s attitude towards the fighting raging today in eastern Ukraine appears far more ambiguous. While he pledged to “support the intentions” behind a ceasefire proposed on Friday by his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, he once again blamed everyone but the pro-Russian insurgents for the continuing violence.
