Donbas war will be won by force of example, not arms

The author argues that Donbas is a debilitating political and economic drain on Russia, and will return to Ukraine's control in due course, but better by force of example than through force of arms.

There will have to be a political process of some kind, a recognition on the part of the region's population that international law and practical interests align. Trying to reconquer Donbas with arms, with the associated human loss and material destruction, will only back up Vladimir Putin's pernicious narrative of a brutal and clumsy Ukrainian state.

PISM: PISM Bulletin No.94, October 2017: Prospects for a UN Peacekeeping Mission to Donbas http://www.europeansources.info/record/prospects-for-a-un-peacekeeping-mission-to-donbas/

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