Yes, but why wouldn’t the president know what the cease-fire means? Was he not consulted? Um, maybe not:
Obama: "It's too early to tell what this ceasefire means" in Ukraine says he hasn't seen details "only wire reports"
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) September 3, 2014
President Obama is just like you and me. Instead of getting his news from world leaders, he reads about on the “wires.”
Go wires! Obama on Russia/Ukraine ceasefire says he's only seen a couple of wire reports so far
— Julie Pace (@jpaceDC) September 3, 2014
Go wires, indeed. Details via the “New York Times“:
President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine reached an agreement with Russia on Wednesday for a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, the presidential office said in a brief announcement on its website.
The Ukrainian announcement said the agreement had come during a telephone call with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “The conversation resulted in an agreement on a lasting cease-fire in Donbass,” or eastern Ukraine, said the announcement, which consisted of three sentences. The two presidents agreed on the steps needed to establish peace, it said. No other details were given.
But Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s press secretary, said Mr. Putin had not negotiated a cease-fire with Mr. Poroshenko because Russia was not a party to the conflict in Ukraine’s southeast.
“Putin and Poroshenko did indeed discuss steps which could facilitate a cease-fire between the militias and the Ukrainian military,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying by the news agency RIA Novosti. “Russia cannot physically agree on a cease-fire, as it is not a side in the conflict.”
Maybe President Obama isn’t alone. It looks like nobody told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko what the cease-fire means, too:
Ukraine president office has just tweaked the Putin-Poroshenko stmt: 'permanent ceasefire' is dropped for 'the ceasefire regime'#facepalm
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) September 3, 2014
Verdict? Putin wins. Again:
Now Russia has a ceasefire w/out publicly agreeing to it.
Putin has just screwed Poroshenko over by guiding him into a classy PR trap— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) September 3, 2014
Related:
Know-nothings: Holder echoes Obama; We totally find out stuff when we read it in newspaper
