“Prospects for lasting peace and the end of conflict in Ukraine remain elusive, although it is possible to imagine a scenario whereby this incident reduced the level of fighting in Ukraine. \u00a0Such a scenario would likely involve a truce to allow investigators access to the crash site, a gradual transformation of this truce into a lasting cease-fire; the decisive end of Russia\u2019s support for the separatists in exchange of avoiding further sanctions; the return of Russian fighters to Russia and broad amnesty offered to Ukrainian citizens who participated in the insurgency; a more comprehensive decentralization initiative that would give more autonomy to Ukraine\u2019s regions than the one\u00a0unveiled by President Poroshenko<\/a>\u00a0recently; and snap local legislative elections to give the people of the Donbas (and other Ukrainian regions) legitimate representatives who can speak for their interests in the post-Yanukovych era. \u00a0This is a scenario under which none of the parties in the conflict would get their ultimate preference, but in which violence would begin to recede.\u00a0 Whether any of this is possible as long as the key actors in the conflict continue to think they can win outright, though, remains to be seen.”<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n One detail worth mentioning\u00a0is that the same deputy prime minister for regional affairs who developed a\u00a0very viable decentralization plan<\/a>\u00a0a few months ago, former Vinnytsia mayor Volodymyr Groysman, is now heading the Ukrainian government’s response to the downing of Flight 17. While this is good, the decentralization (\/federalization) talks will need to get back on track.<\/p>\n