by Stephen Lendman

Minsk reflects pause, not cessation of conflict. Call it a relative calm before a greater storm.

Previous articles explained a durable, sustainable peace in Donbass is pure fantasy.

Two previous ceasefires were agreed on. Followed by partial cessation of hostilities, then resumption of full-scale conflict.

Will this time be different? It hard imagining how given events so far.

Nothing suggests Washington abandoned its intent for total control over Ukraine nationwide - by any means necessary, including full-scale war with US troops directly involved.

Unchallenged dominance is embedded in America's DNA. It remains to be seen how, when, and on what pretext the empire strikes Donbass next.

If past is prologue, expect a major US/Kiev false flag provocation blamed on Russia and rebels.

Ceasefire so far is fragile at best. Sputnik News said both sides accused each other of violations.

Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko called an emergency Sunday meeting. Current conditions will be discussed.

Sputnik News said "(d)espite the official beginning of a ceasefire in Donbas, Kiev forces started firing mortars and shelling the positions of the independence supporters of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR an LPR)."

DPR Defense Ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said "to avoid civilian casualties, the units of DPR are targeting the enemy's weaponry."

"The units of the DPR armed forces are forced to open selective fire to suppress hostilities by Kiev nationalists and saboteurs."

Kiev propaganda is relentless. The latest claims rebels and Russian troops intend occupying Debeltsevo on Sunday. According to deputy defense minister Petro Mekhed:

"Today, having agreement on a ceasefire from 00:00, February 15, Russian-backed militants and the Russian armed forces have been ordered to raise the Russian flag over Debaltsevo" and Mariupol.

"However, while there is a fierce fighting for Debaltsevo, which has been attacked three times as of this morning, Mariupol is still under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces."

"According to the latest information, there are more than 10,000 soldiers of the Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine."

Ukrainian journalist/propagandist Yuriy Butusov claimed "Russian troops storm(ed) our strong points under the cover of (artillery) fire, trying to break through the defensive perimeter" around Debeltsevo.

"The peace agreement reached in Minsk hasn't led to a decrease in tension, but to its escalation."

Note: Ukrainian armed forces chief of staff General Viktor Muzhenko publicly said no Russian forces are involved in Donbas' conflict.

Ukraine's "army is not fighting with the regular units of the Russian army," he explained.

Big Lies claim otherwise. Mostly from Washington, other Western capitals and supportive presstitute media.

Rebel forces surround an estimated 5,000 Kiev troops in Debeltsevo. Zakharchenko said "(t)heir every attempt to break out will be suppressed."

Munich terms said nothing about Debeltsevo, Zakharchenko explained. "Ukraine simply betrayed" its forces trapped there, he added.

Basurin said they won't be shelled nor released. Surrender is their only option. Zakharchenko said Ukrainian security forces won't be given control of Russian border areas.

Sunday "an order will be issued to create the border guard service," he said. "Not a single Ukrainian soldier will enter our territory."

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying "Ukraine's official representatives...as well as those of several Western countries, the US in particular, have essentially expressed solidarity with the opinion of radical nationalists in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) and have began distorting the contents of the Minsk agreements."

On Saturday, Obama spoke to Poroshenko. A White House statement said "(t)hey agreed to remain in close contact in the days ahead."

"Both leaders stressed the importance of establishing a lasting peace that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and unity" while they plot escalated war strategy.

It's just a matter of when it's unleashed. The Financial Times published rare MSM truthful comments about Donbass' conflict.

Short of explicitly saying so, it effectively admitted Kiev is waging a war of aggression against people wanting to live free from the scourge of fascism.

It quoted DPR school principal Lidiya Aksyonova saying "(w)e decided to inform the children from an objective point of view about the current developments of what’s happening inside the Donetsk People’s Republic."

"The beliefs that we form here in school will in 10 years become the political views of our government."

Twenty-year-old Donetsk National University student Yekaterina was quoted saying:

"As a student, as the future generation, I was for a united Ukraine. We thought (Poroshenko) would come to Donetsk, but he didn't come once."

"You don’t need to be a soldier to understand from what direction artillery fire is coming. We have access to the internet. We’re not in the stone age. We’re not zombies."

"How can I be for a united Ukraine when Kiev has spent the past six months bombing us?"

"They came to power and destroyed the entire infrastructure of southeast Ukraine."

Ukrainian-born businessman Enrique Menendez said "(w)e've lost everything: our savings, our prospects, our businesses. Some people lost their relatives."

DPR education minister Igor Kostenok said "the Great Patriotic War (WW II) tells us that many children who were forced to grow up early because of the war took up arms and defended their home(s)."

"History is doomed to repeat itself." It's ongoing now in real time.

Accusations of Russian aggression persist. Despite no evidence whatever proving it.

Fabricated evidence substitutes. US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt posted fake satellite photos on Twitter.

He lied claiming they show Russian artillery near Lomuvatka, about 20km northeast of Debaltsevo.

"We are confident these are Russian military, not separatist systems," he said.

Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov responded, saying:

"We have failed to understand how those grainy dark patches in the photos published by US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt on his Twitter feed could prove anything."

"Unlike the American intelligence services, Russia's military never considered crystal ball gazing a good way to check and confirm data."

Last July, Russia's Defense Ministry exposed fake Pyatt posted images claiming to show Ukraine shelled from Russian territory.

At the time, Konashenkov said "(t)hese materials were posted to Twitter not by accident, as their authenticity is impossible to prove - due to the absence of the attribution to the exact area, and an extremely low resolution. Let alone using them as 'photographic evidence.' "

"It is no secret to anyone that fakes like this are made by a group of US counselors staying in the Kiev building of the security service, led by (US Major) General Randy Kee."

Pyatt and other US officials were caught red-handed several times posting and publicizing fake allegations of Russian involvement in Ukraine.

Konashenkov calls it "an informational merry-go-round." Propaganda war by any other name. Will WW III follow?

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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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