The Ukrainian crisis is not over. The four-party statement, reached in Geneva last Thursday, means several things. It is not, however, the end of anything.
It does signal that, despite their oppositional positions, Russia and the United States do have some overlapping interests, which require a degree of cooperation. What's more, the European Union continues to be in the back seat of a process that threatens to tear apart the largest country in the continent outside Russia and which fundamentally affects the EU's relations with Moscow. Today's Ukraine is a failing state, essentially an object of great power diplomacy.
What is also becoming clear is that the world of hardball geopolitics, unashamed political horse-trading and open economic pressure is "another world" for many in Europe.