There is No Reason to Believe Putin in Minsk Peace Talks

Within the last year, Mr. Putin has flagrantly and deliberately violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Budapest Memorandum, and the Minsk Protocol.

This well-established pattern of aggressive dismissal of international treaties and norms gives the world no reason to believe that Putin will uphold his end of any agreement, even if today’s peace talks between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, and pro-Russia separatist leaders in Minsk, Belarus are successful.

Additionally, Monday, President Obama himself admitted that economic sanctions have not been enough to deter Putin.

In order to change Putin’s calculus, President Obama must stop stalling and listen to his own Secretary of Defense, Members of Congress in his own party, and dozens of military and civilian leaders who have all recommended actions to empower the Ukrainian army so they can successfully confront the growing Russian threat.