“Going into Ukraine,” lead editorial, Sunday, August 7, The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/going-into-ukraine/2016/08/06/a5e49ca4-5b19-11e6-831d-0324760ca856_story.html):
Donald Trump’s assertion that Russia “is not going to go into Ukraine” reminded us that very little reporting has been done in recent months about the state of the conflict in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, which were first invaded by Russian forces in early 2014. That’s unfortunate, because while the West’s attention has been otherwise occupied this summer, Russia and its proxies have steadily escalated the fighting.
… military supplies continue to pour across Ukraine’s eastern border, parts of which Russia exclusively controls. According to statements by Ukrainian officials, at least 19 trains carrying military hardware crossed the border in July. On August 2, authorities reported that 30 tanks, 11 armored vehicles and six Grad rocket systems had been shipped in during the previous week. …
Mr. Putin has employed subterfuge, deception and lies to cloud the operations and their aims. In negotiations and conferences with Western diplomats, his aides have repeatedly agreed to plans to end the fighting, while on the ground Russian forces have continued to shell and bomb.
The Obama administration’s reaction to all this has become painfully familiar. Secretary of State John F. Kerry brokers plans for ceasefires; when they are broken by Russia, he expresses outrage – then returns to Moscow to strike another deal. President Obama continues to insist… that the way to end the conflicts is to work with Russia. The possibility that Mr. Putin has no interest in and no intention of seriously cooperating with the United States in either Ukraine or Syria is one that Mr. Obama evidently finds it inconvenient to contemplate. Sadly, Mr. Trump is not the only one who denies the obvious.