Ukrainian crisis/ Minsk II

The thick carpet of snow that covers central Kiev lends the city an artificial air of calm. In Independence Square, scene of the EuroMaidan revolution last year, the cafés and restaurants are full, and in the surrounding streets people hurry to and from work, wrapped up tightly against the cold. Designer shops sell Levi’s jeans and Calvin Klein shirts, while an Apple store is filled with customers. The war seems a million miles away.

But each day the stores re-price those jeans and shirts. The people walking to work worry about how they will afford life’s necessities and how to ask their boss for a pay raise—again. 

Why Is Putin Smiling About Ukraine? In Kiev, Everybody Knows