BEST OF THE WEB: Minsk ceasefire deal: Ukraine ceasefire agreement, point by point

© AFP Photo / Andrey Stasevich

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) shakes hands with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (R) during a meeting on February 11, 2015 in Minsk.

A glimpse of hope has appeared for peace in Ukraine after a 13-point memorandum was signed Thursday in Minsk.

The deal was brokered by the leaders of France, Germany and Russia, who joined their Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday for marathon overnight negotiations.

The deal was signed by the so-called "contact group," which includes the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, a representative of the OSCE, Ukraine's former President Viktor Kuchma and the Russian ambassador to Ukraine.

Here is a breakdown of the deal:

1. A comprehensive ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. Comes into force at 00.00 (Kiev time) on February 15.

© Reuters / Maxim Shemetov

2. A pullout of heavy weapons. The parties agreed to a compromise disengagement line. Kiev is to pull artillery and other hardware from the current frontline while the rebels would do it from the frontline as it was in September, before they gained ground in a January counter-offensive. The OSCE-monitored safety zone would be 50 km to 150 km wide for weapons, depending on their range. The pullout is to be completed by March 1.

© Reuters / Maxim Shemetov

A Ukrainian army tank.

3. The OSCE will use its drone fleet and monitors on the ground, as well as satellite images and radar data to ensure that both parties stick to the deal.

© Reuters / Nikolai Ryabchenko

4. Kiev and the rebels will negotiate the terms for future local elections in the rebel-held areas, which would bring them back into Ukraine's legal framework. Kiev would adopt legislation on self-governance that would be acceptable for the self-proclaimed republics.

© RIA Novosti / Alexey Kudenko

5. Kiev will declare a general amnesty for the rebels.

© RIA Novosti / Nikolay Hizhnyak

Fighters of the self-defense forces in Uglegorsk.

6. An exchange of all prisoners must be completed by the fifth day after full disengagement. That's in 19 days, if the weapons pullback takes the full time provided for by the deal.

© RIA Novosti / Igor Maslov

Prisoners of war who returned to the Donetsk People's Republic after the "all-for-all" prisoner exchange between the Donetsk People's Republic's people's militia and Ukrainian special forces, on December 26, near Konstantinovka, Donetsk suburb.

7. Humanitarian aid convoys will be allowed full access to the needy in the war-affected areas. An international monitoring mechanism will be provided.

© RIA Novosti / Sergey Pivovarov

A column of trucks with a Russian humanitarian aid during the formation of a thirteenth humanitarian convoy for Donbas in the settlement of Kovalevka in the Rostov Region.

8. Kiev will restore economic ties, social payments and banking services in the dissenting areas, which it cut earlier in response to the elections held by the self-proclaimed republics. Their respective governments will resume taxation and payment for utilities. This provision is subject for further negotiation.

© RIA Novosti / Masha Ross)

Citizens of Donetsk queue up to the main office of Oschadbank (State Savings Bank of Ukraine) in the city's Universitetskaya Street, 11.17.2014.

9. After the local elections are held in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, Kiev is to restore control over their borders with Russia. The transition may take time, which would be needed for a comprehensive constitutional reform in Ukraine.

© RIA Novosti / John Trast

Line of vehicles at the Uspenka checkpoint in the Donetsk Region on the border between Ukraine and Russia.

10. All foreign troops, heavy weapons and mercenaries are to be withdrawn from Ukraine. Illegal armed groups would be disarmed, but local authorities in Donetsk and Lugansk would be allowed to have legal militia units.

Victor Lenfa, commander of a French volunteer team fighting for the rebels in Eastern Ukraine.

11. Kiev will implement comprehensive constitutional reform by the end of the year, which would decentralize the Ukrainian political system and give privileges to Donetsk and Lugansk. The privileges include language self-determination, the freedom to appoint prosecutors and judges, and to establish economic ties with Russia.

© RIA Novosti / Alexandr Maksimenko

Verkhovna Rada meeting.

12. The OSCE's election monitors are to see that local elections in the self-proclaimed republics are up to international standards. The exact procedure for the elections is subject to further negotiations.

© RIA Novosti / John Trast

OSCE observers

13. Talks between the "contact group" will be intensified in various ways.

© AFP Photo / Vasily Maximov

Members of the so-called 'contact group' on Ukraine peace settlement.

Comment: After a marathon 17-hour series of meetings, a framework is - theoretically - in place to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.

Will it work?

It depends on the goodwill of all parties concerned.

Far from becoming breakaway republics, Donetsk and Lugansk would remain in Ukraine.

More importantly, however, the Kiev regime would no longer be on a war footing. This will present the regime with big problems. The glue that has held this collapsing country together since the coup last February is war. Without war, and faced with having to actually fix ALL of Ukraine, how long will a rabidly anti-Russian, ultra-capitalist regime last?

And then there's the 'silent party' behind these talks. Without a war on Russia's and the EU's doorstep, how can the US keep Europe on a war footing with Russia? If EU-Russian relations normalize, and strengthen via mutual cooperation in terms of both increased trade and security, America loses.

The question is, will the 'Greatest Nation on Earth' go quietly?

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

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