US concerned Ukraine ceasefire deal may succeed: Analyst

An American foreign policy analyst says the United States does not want the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine to succeed, with some elements in Washington plotting to thwart it by sending weapons to Kiev.

James George Jatras, a former US diplomat and adviser to the Senate Republican leadership, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday while commenting on a statement by US Secretary of State John Kerry who accused Russia of violating the terms of the Minsk ceasefire.

On February 12, marathon negotiations between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel resulted in a new ceasefire deal for eastern Ukraine in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

The ceasefire was meant to take effect on February 15. Under the terms of the deal, both Kiev and pro-Russian fighters agreed to start pulling back heavy weapons from the frontline.

“It is somewhat peculiar that American policy makers are faulting Russia or the anti-Kiev forces in Ukraine for violation of the ceasefire, especially at this point it looks like that the ceasefire is holding,” said Jatras.

“There has been one prisoner exchange, there may be another one; the anti-Kiev forces are pulling back their heavy weapons, it’s the Kiev side [that] doesn’t want to pull back their heavy weapons now,” he stated.

“I think it is quite clear because they are obligated, under the agreement within 30 days, to pass legislation to set up a political solution with the eastern Donbass. It’s very clear that Kiev has no will to do that,” he added.

The pro-Russian fighters have been withdrawing heavy weapons for the last couple of days, but Kiev had held back from implementing the withdrawal.

However, on Thursday, troops loyal to the regime in Kiev reportedly towed artillery away from the front line in the eastern Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Kerry blamed President Putin for implementing policies in eastern Ukraine that “violate all the international norms.”

"To date, neither Russia nor the forces it is supporting have come close to complying with their commitments," Kerry told the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Commenting to Press TV, Jatras said, “It seems to me that what Washington is really afraid of here is not that the ceasefire is failing but that it might succeed.”

“And my concern is that there are elements in the United States who want to derail the ceasefire by sending weapons to the Kiev regime,” he noted.

“I think there will be a terrible and tragic mistake [on the US part], when it looks like with the European brokerage, there is a possibility of a peace settlement,” he concluded.

GJH/HRJ

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