by Stephen Lendman

Sustainable, durable peace in Donbass is pure fantasy. Obama won't tolerate it. Poroshenko is a convenient US stooge.

His power depends on remembering who's boss. Given his colossal failures to please the power installing him, his days perhaps are numbered.

He admitted Minsk terms won't hold. They won't "be strictly implemented," he said.

In less than so many words he intends more war once his military regroups and rearms from the battering it took.

it suffered one major defeat after another - especially in Devaltseve. He introduced legislation authorizing a 250,000-strength force.

"The size of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in emergencies shall grow by the number of servicemen recruited for military service consistent with the mobilization decrees of the Ukrainian president," he said.

In January, Ukraine's illegitimate defense minister Stepan Poltorak said military budgeting will be 3.6 times greater than last year.

It's when its only enemies are ones it invents at a time it's bankrupt teetering toward economic collapse.

IMF and other Western funding alone maintain short-term solvency. For how long remains to be seen.

Ukraine is a black hole of fascist extremism, extreme repression, out-of-control militantly, scandalous corruption, and rage for more war against its own citizens.

An anti-populist budget passed without parliamentarians given a chance to read it.

It drastically cuts pensions. Retirees will get 15% less. Payments to tax, customs and regulatory body personnel are suspended.

Ukrainians already experience the world's highest hyperinflation at over 270%. Since February 2014, the hryvnia currency lost around 70% of its value perhaps heading toward worthlessness.

Energy prices are skyrocketing. Henceforth, gas for heating will increase 230% to about $132 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Gas for cooking will skyrocket from $43 to $263 per 1,000 cubic meters. Economic crisis conditions are worsening.

Devastating austerity was imposed on millions of deeply impoverished Ukrainians to qualify for $17.5 billion in loan-shark-of-last-resort IMF funding.

Despite economic disaster, Poroshenko is preparing for more war. On March 4, RT International headlined "Ukraine replenishes Donbass tank supplies amid ceasefire."

On the one hand, its military continues violating Minsk terms. So far, it refused to withdraw heavy weapons as stipulated. It's repositioning them instead.

It's adding reinforcements. It's preparing for more war. Sporadic shelling continues. Colonel Cassad reports it's targeting Donetsk's airport and "sometimes tries to attack" it.

It perpetuates the myth of a strong military. Reality is a battered one desperately trying to regroup and rearm for more combat.

Fascist lunatics operate this way - especially with encouragement from Washington.

RT reported Ukraine's state-owned Ukroboronprom defense corporation saying it shipped T64B tanks to the defense ministry and national guard better able to withstand attacks than previous models.

A statement claimed they're "ready to carry out missions in the anti-terrorist operation (AT) zone" - referring to Donbass.

Numbers of tanks supplied aren't known - or payment terms. Ukroboronprom said new ones are equipped with better protective armor. According to a Latvian military source:

"In Ukraine, hulls of T-64 tanks are often severely damaged, with entire pieces of armor plucked out, and you can see that the damage is done along welding seams of the hull, while the rest of the armor plates left out bent."

"The most obvious explanation to the damages of Ukrainian armored vehicles is the poor quality of manufacturing."

Donbass freedom fighters know ceasefire remains shaky at best. They're ready to repel any future Kiev attacks. Overnight Tuesday, they reported eight Ukrainian military shelling incidents.

On March 4, Sergey Lavrov wasn't encouraging. On the one hand, Kiev Minsk violations continue.

On the other, Lavrov said Contact Group members Russia, the OSCE and Ukraine were "urged to create working groups for reviewing all aspects of the Minsk agreements…as soon as possible."

So far, Kiev hasn't complied. It "refuse(s) the proposals of Donetsk and Luhansk, of the Russian side, to create such groups and announce their composition, trying to drag out the process. It is troubling," said Lavrov.

"There should be no doubt that the documents from February 12 must be implemented fully."

"This includes immediately establishing working groups, starting work on a constitutional reform, restoring social and economic ties and so on."

Kiev obstructionism shows it wants war, not peace. It's just a matter of time before it resumes - with full US support and encouragement.

Expect Minsk II to accomplish no more than previous Russian initiated conflict resolution efforts.

War and peace decisions are made in Washington, not Moscow. Obama wants Donbass freedom fighters crushed.

Expect renewed conflict at his discretion. Maybe this time with shock and awe Pentagon support.

In the meantime, Ukraine prepares for more war. It's taking part in ongoing NATO Annual Crisis Management Exercises.

They're "designed to test (North Atlantic Council) procedures at the strategic political-military level," according to NATO.

"The exercise rehearses decision-making processes using an entirely fictitious scenario" likely to be very real during US-led NATO's next war.

Maybe targeting Donbass. Acting as Kiev's air force. Destroying Novorossia the way Obama ravaged Libya.

Given Washington's rage for permanent wars without end, expect the worst ahead.

Expect more mass slaughter and destruction - perhaps genocide before Washington's Ukraine campaign ends.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich blasted US policy, saying:

"We have noticed a remarkable fact. As soon as signs of a peaceful settlement of the severe Ukrainian crisis appear, Washington, that had a hand in last year's coup in Kiev, starts to exacerbate the situation."

"So this time, when the ceasefire regime agreed upon in Minsk on February 12 with assistance of Russian President Vladimir Putin is being implemented, Barack Obama's administration is again issuing threats, announcing extension of the previously imposed sanctions and promising new ones - both against our country and against the DPR and LPR."

"What is this if not an attempt to destroy the tenuous budding of trust between them and Ukrainian authorities, to undermine or even derail the peace process."

"The same applies to promises of massive American weapons supplies to Ukraine, indulging revanchist plans of Kiev's 'party of war.' "

"We would really appreciate if the United States would finally start thinking about the consequences of its decisions and actions."

"Moreover, no sanctions will change Russia's principal position. It is high time for Washington to realise it."

According to Russia's ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, Moscow will do whatever is necessary to counter possible threats from Alliance involvement in Ukraine.

Mostly blaming Washington, he said some "NATO countries are adding fuel to the fire of this conflict."

Deploying combat troops masquerading as instructors directly aids Kiev's "party of war" intention to resolve crisis conditions "by military means."

"It runs counter to NATO leadership statements (claiming) Ukrain(e's) crisis has no military solutions," Grushko stressed.

It bears repeating. Ukraine's conflict is far from settled. It'll resume at Obama's discretion.

Odds favor sometime this spring - perhaps Libya-style war using Kiev ground forces as US shock troops the way Washington uses ISIS in Syria.

-###-

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.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.