by Stephen Lendman

Chances for durable Southeastern Ukraine peace are virtually nil. Despite ceasefire terms agreed on, Kiev shelling continued. More on this below.

Washington's dirty hands manipulate things. Obama deplores peace. He wants war.

Waging it serves Washington's imperial agenda. Peace and stability defeat it.

Ukrainian oligarch president's word isn't his bond. He's a serial liar. He promised peace. He waged war.

"The first steps that we will take at the beginning of our presidential term should be focused on stopping the war, to put an end to this chaos and bring peace to a united Ukraine," he vowed.

Days later he promised to crush "pro-Russian separatist war being waged against our country."

"We will end this terror," he said. "The anti-terrorist operation has finally just truly begun." Washington offers support, encouragement and direct aid.

Poroshenko promised not to attack civilians. He willfully unleashed Kiev forces against them.

He wrongfully blames Russia for Kiev crimes. He accused Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters for earlier regime ceasefire violations.

On Friday, both sides agreed to ceasefire terms. Poroshenko confirmed it via Twitter, saying:

"I give the order to the chief of the General staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire, starting from 18.00 (local time) on September 5.

A statement on his web site said:

"We must do everything possible and impossible to stop bloodshed and put an end to people's suffering."

Another promise made. Another sure to be broken. Expect Russia and Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters to be wrongfully blamed.

On September 5, Itar Tass headlined "Participants of Contact Group (US, UK, France, Italy and Russia) sign 12-point plan of peace settlement in Ukraine."

OSCE ambassador Heidi Tagliavini named three key issues agreed on - a ceasefire, "all to all" exchange of war prisoners, and humanitarian aid access.

Information on other provisions wasn't immediately available.

It's believed they include withdrawing military forces from urban areas, establishing an international monitoring force, permitting a humanitarian corridor, banning use of combat aircraft, and letting repair crews begin rebuilding destroyed infrastructure in war-ravaged areas.

The New York Times said provisions include "amnesty for those who disarm and who did not commit serious crimes, and the exchange of all prisoners."

"Militias will be disbanded, and a 10-kilometer buffer zone - about six miles - will be established along the Russian-Ukrainian border."

"The area will be subject to joint patrols."

Areas self-defense forces control "will be decentralized." An "executive in control of each region…will be appointed after consultations with each region."

"(E)arly elections and a job-creation program" were promised.

"(T)he Russian language will be protected."

Area self-defense forces "agreed to leave the administrative buildings they control and to allow broadcasts from Ukraine to resume on local television."

At the same time, they reject demilitarization. Doing so leaves them defenseless against virtually certain future Kiev attacks.

They demand Ukrainian forces return home. They want them entirely out of the region. Kiev categorically refuses.

On Monday, negotiators will reconvene to discuss how ceasefire terms will be implemented.

Illegitimate Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said peace depends on Russia withdrawing troops existing nowhere on Ukrainian territory.

He wants a wall built separating both countries. Neo-Nazi Svoboda party member Yuriy Syrotyuk called Friday's agreement "a truce."

"It is not peace," he said. "There will be no result because Ukraine will not give up Donetsk and Luhansk and Russia will not stop."

Russia welcomed the ceasefire agreement. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

"Moscow hopes that all provisions of the document and agreements reached will be carefully executed by the parties, as well as the continuation of the negotiation process for full settlement of the crisis in Ukraine."

An unnamed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) representative said another document will be prepared.

It'll be a memorandum on resolving Southeastern Ukrainian crisis conditions. Local autonomy is key.

Kiev is fundamentally opposed. So are Washington and rogue EU partners.

Lugansk leader Igor Plotnitsky said ceasing hostilities "does not mean a shift from our course of breaking away from Ukraine."

"This is a compulsory measure." Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters reject Kiev's fascist regime.

They want real democracy. They'll accept nothing less. It's just a matter of time before full-scale conflict resumes.

Perhaps by a US-instigated false flag wrongfully blamed on Russia and/or self defense forces.

Some fighting still persists. On September 6, RIA Novosti headlined "Kiev Forces Continue Shelling Despite Ceasefire: Donetsk Militia."

According to DPR self defense forces, Kiev's military attacked Donetsk after the time agreed on to end hostilities.

"The people's militia's subdivisions in Horlivka and Makiivka fell under mortar shelling in the Donetsk direction at 20 hours 15 minutes (17:15 GMT)," DPR said.

"Some 1.5 hours later, the Ukrainian forces attacked the city of Yasynuvata, and at 10:30 p.m. (19:30 GMT), the positions of the militia forces' at the Donetsk airport, according to militia."

Other reports said Kiev forces kept fighting near Mariupol. It's a strategic port city.

"Along the whole contact line with the enemy, (self-defense forces) adhered to the commander's order not to fire back."

Russia's Foreign Ministry said NATO statements on Ukraine, as well as joint alliance nations and Kiev forces military exercises "undoubtedly (mean) increased tension and threaten to end the progress in the peace process."

Andriy Biletskiy heads the Right Sector's so-called Azov volunteer battalion. "As soldiers we will obey (ceasefire) orders, but as citizens that will be hard," he said.

One of his subordinates added what he left unsaid, explaining: "We will use the ceasefire to regroup and retrain, and then we will take back the land."

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was openly hawkish. He lied saying:

"Russian aggression against Ukraine was a wake-up call. It is now obvious that we cannot take our security for granted."

Obama suggested what's likely ahead. He doubts ceasefire will hold, saying:

"We are hopeful, but based on past experience also skeptical that in fact the separatists will follow through and that Russia will stop violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

At the same time, Washington and EU partners plan new sanctions. Announcing them was delayed.

They'll "deepen and broaden our sanctions across Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors," Obama said.

EU officials said "agreement in principle on new sanctions" will be announced on Monday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron added:

"We should be clear that the sanctions which we agreed on last Saturday in Brussels will go ahead."

On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said implementing them shows support for Ukraine's "party of war."

Western leaders remain in "the political world behind the looking glass."

"Instead of desperately searching for ways how to hurt the economies of their countries and Russia more painfully, (they) should better support economic revival of Donbass and recovery of life in the region."

If new sanctions are imposed, "Russia certainly will respond."

Sanctions wars make resumption of conflict more likely. It may be a US-instigated false flag away.

It may happen sooner than most people imagine. Washington's regional imperial plans haven't changed. Expect business as usual to continue.

A Final Comment

Russia's Foreign Ministry called results of NATO's summit "hardly surprising."

The alliance's longstanding mission remains interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. Doing it belligerently repeats with disturibing regularity.

"The results of the summit have graphically demonstrated that NATO whose policy is dictated by the United States and hawks in some European capitals has been striving for military domination in Europe in violation of the agreements on the importance of a system of equitable and indivisible security for the Euro- Atlantic region, that have been reaffirmed numerously at all levels," said Russia's Foreign Ministry.

"The efforts of the international community to counter the real threats and challenges of our time, such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking, piracy, and natural and man-made disasters are being sacrificed in this process."

"The summit adopted a line towards NATO's eastward expansion and build-up of its presence near Russia’s borders."

"These plans were nurtured for a long time and the Ukrainian crisis became merely an excuse for the start of their implementation."

Joint NATO/Kiev military exercises planned for September 15 - 26 on Ukrainian territory "are bound to escalate tensions."

They "threaten the start of progress regarding a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and contribute to the deepening of the split in Ukrainian society."

"(T)hey testify to NATO's unreserved support for Kiev's neo-Nazi and extremist forces, including the Right Sector."

At risk is greater regional destabilization. Eventual East/West confrontation looms.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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