diplomacy. The USA kept a low profile; US President Barack Obama let the Germans lead the way.

In recent weeks, the United States has changed gear and become more involved in the Ukraine crisis. The USA has engaged in quiet diplomacy in an attempt to breathe new life into the Minsk Agreement. In secret negotiations, the Americans probed the Russians on the chances of saving the agreement. Another foreign-policy success would be convenient for Obama, who is now nearing the end of his presidential term. But there is more behind US efforts: German-Ukrainian diplomacy has lost momentum in recent months.

Merkel's weakness suits Moscow

One correlation is obvious: the more refugees arrive in Germany, the less political energy the Chancellery has to channel into other issues. Some observers believe they canEbola virus outbreak, updates on current therapeutic strategies.
Filoviruses are enveloped negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, which include Ebola and Marburg viruses, known to cause hemorrhagic fever in humans with a case fatality of up to 90%. There have been several Ebola virus outbreaks since the first outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 of which, the recent 2013-2015 epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone is the largest in recorded history. Within a few months of the start of the outbreak in December 2013, thousands of infected cases were reported with a significant number of deaths. As of March 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been nearly 25,000 suspected cases, with 15,000 confirmed by laboratory testing, and over 10,000 deaths. The