Ukraine: It's about WHO controlls the breadbasket of Europe, the people or NATO
Russian energy giant Gazprom threatened (NYT) to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine within two days over a payment dispute. Meanwhile, the UK announced it would send a small group of military personnel to provide training to government forces, and a U.S. military official said the Pentagon would send between five and ten troops to Ukraine to offer medical training (AP).
Ukraine's central bank banned (WSJ) the purchase of foreign currency, citing a struggling currency, and President Petro Poroshenko announced a deal with the United Arab Emirates to buy defensive weapons (Defense News). Separately, Lithuania is set to reintroduce conscription (BBC), citing concerns about the current geopolitical climate, though not explicitly referencing developments in Ukraine.
Analysis
"This war is not a land grab, and it is not a war about specific leaders. What is being decided in Ukraine—the largest country in Europe—is whether the post-Soviet space will be allowed to free itself from a vicious cycle of inefficiency, corruption, violence and failed governments to build instead modern, open, democratic societies," argues former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili at the Washington Post.
"If the current president and prime minister lose their grip on power, the right wing and the military, unhappy with their commanders and political leaders and angered by recent defeats at the hands of pro-Russian rebels, are the likeliest force to make a bid for dominance. That's a big reason to wish Ukraine's current leaders success," writes Leonid Bershidsky for Bloomberg View.
"Putin is not fighting for control over a few economically depressed areas of the Donbass. He is fighting for the right to sit at the same table with the 'great powers' where they redraw national borders," writes Alexander Golts at the Moscow Times.
From: cfr.org