A meeting of senior diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union concluded last week in Geneva with a one-page agreement requiring all sides to disarm and vacate occupied buildings and public squares. This is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. But, as Stephen Cohen cautions, “it would be a mistake to think that the diplomats who sat down in Geneva this week control the situation.” Cohen, a Russian studies scholar and a regular contributor to The Nation, joins Shona Murray on Newstalk to gauge the significance of the accord and other recent events. “There have been mixed developments,” Cohen says, noting that the worst-case scenario—a widespread civil war drawing in both Russia and the United Sates—has so far been averted, but that armed militants on both sides have yet to lay down their arms.

Visit Newstalk for the second part of this conversation.

Shortly after the interview aired, Reuters revealed that a fatal gunfight broke out Sunday morning near Slavyansk, a city in Eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists. For more on the situation in Ukraine, listen to Cohen on KQED Radio.

—David Kortava