Russian escalation dampens hopes for peace in Ukraine

“With this escalation, Putin could be sending a message that there is no flexibility regarding Minsk. Instead, Russia will only accept peace on its own terms. This means local elections with eastern Ukraine still under Russian occupation and without Ukrainian control of the border,” Volodymyr Yermolenko, Director of Analytics at Internews Ukraine and UkraineWorld's editor in chief, explained the possible reasons of Russian military escalation in Ukraine on February 18, 2020.