Eugene Rumer: Putin will not accept defeat
The conflict in eastern Ukraine is entering a new and highly dangerous phase. The Ukrainian army is poised for the final drive into Donetsk, the capital of Russian-backed separatists. A convoy of some 40 Russian vehicles, including two dozen armored personnel carriers and support trucks, was reported entering Ukrainian territory where it was shelled by Ukrainian artillery. The Ukrainian government says it destroyed several vehicles, and almost certainly there have been losses among Russian military personnel. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, addressed Russian parliamentarians in Crimea, apparently assembled there to demonstrate that the Black Sea territory is Russian, period. Kyiv and Moscow are on a collision course. Neither is willing to yield. They may be past the point of no return where a negotiated solution might have kept the crisis from escalating.
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