In the last couple of weeks, there have been two significant deals in Europe. One is the Minsk peace deal between Ukrainian rebels and the government. The second one was the last-minute deal between Greece and the Eurozone finance ministers to settle the former's financial crisis.

The Ukraine deal looks shaky, but there's slightly more hope in Greece.

After three failed negotiations, and several instances of Greek negotiators storming out, plus German ultimatums, the Greeks had to step back and swallow their pride. Even though the firebrand Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis tried to portray it as a Hellenic victory, it is a hard sell to analysts, media and economists worldwide.

For a start, the Greeks are only getting an extension by giving up the tough talk about abandoning austerity. The austerity measures are staying, along with supervision by the "hated" Troika of the IMF, EU Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.

Greece also has to supply a list of reforms for Troika approval. It will continue to receive assistance up to a June deadline, thereby preventing immediate bankruptcy.

The new government's spin doctors are trying hard to portray it as a victory for Greece. Mr. Varoufakis portrayed the deal as a recovery assistance agreement; although a better explanation was offered by Mr. Schäuble, the old cynical finance minister of Germany, who observed: "They'll find it hard to explain to the people the deal they just made."

Of course, it would be folly to predict what's going to happen in such fluid geo-politics, but it does seem a healthy dose of realism may prevail in Athens for the near future.

There are three lessons to be drawn from this drama. First of all, do not promise what you can't deliver. The men who have seized power in Greece made promises in the heat of the election campaign that they might now want to prudently avoid. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was portrayed as a new Hitler, and derogatory references to Germany's Nazi past and the military occupation of Greece were flung about.

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