“The longer Ukraine’s central government continues to struggle to gain control of separatist areas in its southeast, the more chance they have of splitting off indefinitely, says Charles E. King, an expert on so-called ‘frozen conflicts’ in the former Soviet Union. For Ukraine, absent a clear military victory, ‘you are going to continue to see these local entities creating their own governing structure such as they are.'”
Source: Interview: Charles E. King: Troubling Secessionist Models for Ukraine – Council on Foreign Relations