T he deal agreed by Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko in Minsk on Thursday provides a ray of hope that the conflict in eastern Ukraine might be moving towards a settlement. But it would be foolish to view the pact more optimistically than that. After a testy 16-hour negotiation, the Russian and Ukrainian presidents have at least settled on a framework to end the fighting that has taken more than 5,000 lives. However, a similar agreement signed in the Belarusian capital last September swiftly collapsed. And any optimism about Minsk II requires a leap of faith […]