(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Ukraine's cease-fire truce gives parties in Moscow, Kiev, Brussels and Washington a chance to revise their stances.
The Ukrainian government and separatist forces signed a cease-fire agreement on Friday in the Belarussian capital of Minsk to exchange captives and deliver humanitarian aid to residents in Eastern Ukraine.
Although Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed their satisfaction of committing to ceasefire, concerned parties, especially residents of eastern provinces who are yearning for stability and calm in their cities and towns, are still afraid of violating the ceasefire.
Such fears arise because Ukraine had to sign the ceasefire as it was reportedly concerned of increasing energy crisis, needs Russian gas and wants Donbass region to resume its coal production, which is a main source of energy for Ukraine especially in winter.
Furthermore, hopes of Ukrainian leadership to get Western military support from the NATO to face Russia have vanished along with the nearly five-month-long conflict and inability of Ukraine forces to put an end to that conflict by force as well as arresting of Ukrainian soldiers by separatists.
Observers in Moscow fear that Poroshenko could not resist pressure exercised by influential people who support the idea of continuing war such as Dmitry Yaros, the leader of Right Trend, and Ihor Kolomoisky, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk.
In return, Russian leadership did much effort to reach a ceasefire truce and pressed separatists to abide by it in an attempt to convince the West that Moscow plays a positive role to avoid further sanctions and relieve tensions between Brussels and Washington.
Welcoming a ceasefire deal, the European Union threated that it would impose further economic sanctions against Russia aimed at forcing it to press separatists.
Washington, which opposed the annexation of Crimea to Russia, observes situation closely and incites Kiev not to accept any ceasefire truce, which does not help Ukraine restore its sovereignty in the eastern regions and Crimea as well.
Last month, Russian imposed sanctions against imported goods from US and EU and switched to China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
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