Words alone will not heal divisions in Ukraine
Kevin Rafferty says it's unclear how the greater autonomy promised in new deal will materialise
The foreign ministers of Russia, the US, European Union and Ukraine agreed on Thursday in Geneva on a deal to pull Ukraine back from the brink of a civil war which could spill over into a wider conflict sucking in the great powers.
"Pro-Russian" sympathisers will surrender the Ukrainian government buildings that they captured in eastern Ukraine in return for personal amnesty and promises of new constitutional arrangements giving autonomy to regions of Ukraine.
Russia effectively gets to keep Crimea, which was not even mentioned in the talks, though US Secretary of State John Kerry weakly protested against Russia's takeover at a press conference.
Kerry suggested that autonomy for eastern regions could be "more extensive than any offer of autonomy that exists in any oblast in Russia". After that, supposedly, it will be up to the people of Ukraine - minus Crimea, of course.
He added that it had been "a good day's work", suggesting that they had all stepped back from the brink. It remains to be seen. The immediate reaction of some pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk was that they would stay put.
Just a day earlier, the sight of six Ukrainian armoured vehicles on their mission to restore Kiev's authority to the east of the country being commandeered by so-called pro-Russian forces spoke volumes about the dangerous morass and the abject failure of world leaders to comprehend the challenges to them and to peaceful world order.