Shells Hit Ukraine Town Behind Front Line, At Least 1 Killed
ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Despite a looming cease-fire deal for eastern Ukraine, a government-held town 40 kilometers (25 miles) behind the front line has been hit by shelling, killing at least one person.
Associated Press reporters saw the body of a child killed Friday afternoon after rocket fire hit a residential area in Artemivsk. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack.
The shelling occurred as Russian-backed separatists are mounting a major, sustained effort Friday to capture Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub south of Artemivsk, ahead of a weekend cease-fire.
The deadline for the warring sides to halt hostilities is Sunday morning at one minute after midnight.
An excerpt from: How The West Should Respond To Putin, by Daniel W. Drezner in The Washington Post:
If I was advising President Obama, here are the steps I’d be taking to handle a threat from Putin that doesn’t look like it’s going to subside anytime soon:
Create a pathway for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. Putin needs a Security Dilemma 101 class right damn now, which means he needs to know that offensive actions will trigger balancing coalitions. Finland and Sweden are the two most significant countries in Europe not in NATO. Over the past year, these Scandinavian countries have taken steps toward closer NATO ties. At a minimum, form an exploratory committee with them to see what NATO membership would entail.
Finish negotiating TTIP. As I said earlier this week, the real existential threat to Putin is the economic appeal of the West. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will increase that allure — not to mention provided a much-needed boost to euro zone economies.
Start building CoCom II. The economic companion to NATO during the Cold War was the Coordinating Committee that imposed a strategic embargo on the Soviet Union. To be clear, I don’t think we’re quite at Cold War II territory yet. That said, setting up a CoCom-like structure to manage the current sanctions — as well as potential future sanctions — does signal to Russian plutocrats that without some serious changes in Russian behavior, Western economic pressure is not going away. Furthermore, this CoCom could also be used to handle other tasks, such as coordinating against Russian cyberattacks.
Pay attention to Moldova. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about where else in Europe Putin can make mischief. His softest target is Moldova, a small, weak country that already has a Russian irredentist problem. So start bolstering Moldovan capabilities before a problem arises.
Play the long game of a frozen conflict in Ukraine. Yes, Ukraine is very important to Putin, and yes, Russia will be ready to inject more men treasure into the conflict to get its way. You know what, though? The West has a hell of a lot more resources than Russia. So beyond the IMF deal, take the necessary steps to ensure that Ukraine is on the right economic and political path. It is likely that Putin will counter with more efforts to subvert the Ukrainian state. But this is one dimension of statecraft where the West has an advantage. So press it.