Там все розуміють. Але як будуть діяти?
http://theweek.com/article/index/256568/russia-is-winning-the-battle-for-ukraine
By Peter Weber | February 19, 2014
Russia is winning the battle for Ukraine
And why not? Vladimir Putin has a lot more to lose in the bloody Kiev showdown than Europe or the U.S.
...In the West, this looks like a pretty clear case of Ukrainians fighting for Western-style economic and political freedoms against the country's traditional imperial oppressor, Russia - now personified in Russian President Vladimir Putin. After fruitful talks between Yanukovich and his political opponents, which led to the January resignation of pro-Moscow Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and protesters starting to dismantle their barricades over the weekend, Putin apparently stepped in again.
...
That doesn't excuse Russia's hardball geopolitics, which apparently extends to encouraging or coercing Yanukovich to use violence to end the months-long protest. And Putin's blaming the U.S. for propping up the anti-Yanukovich protesters - Washington is trying to tell "the authorities of a sovereign state what they should do next and how they should do it," says Russia's state-run RIA Novosti - is comically transparent deflection.
But it helps explain why Putin is offering Yanukovich a sweeter deal than the EU, including heavily discounted natural gas and more generous loan agreements. Keeping Ukraine in Russia's camp is apparently so important to Putin that he is fine with photos of Kiev burning and tales of dead protesters knocking his prized Sochi Olympics off the front page of newspapers. We'll find out soon how important Ukraine is to Western Europe and the U.S. - and, perhaps, to the Ukrainian people.
By Peter Weber | February 19, 2014
Russia is winning the battle for Ukraine
And why not? Vladimir Putin has a lot more to lose in the bloody Kiev showdown than Europe or the U.S.
...In the West, this looks like a pretty clear case of Ukrainians fighting for Western-style economic and political freedoms against the country's traditional imperial oppressor, Russia - now personified in Russian President Vladimir Putin. After fruitful talks between Yanukovich and his political opponents, which led to the January resignation of pro-Moscow Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and protesters starting to dismantle their barricades over the weekend, Putin apparently stepped in again.
...
That doesn't excuse Russia's hardball geopolitics, which apparently extends to encouraging or coercing Yanukovich to use violence to end the months-long protest. And Putin's blaming the U.S. for propping up the anti-Yanukovich protesters - Washington is trying to tell "the authorities of a sovereign state what they should do next and how they should do it," says Russia's state-run RIA Novosti - is comically transparent deflection.
But it helps explain why Putin is offering Yanukovich a sweeter deal than the EU, including heavily discounted natural gas and more generous loan agreements. Keeping Ukraine in Russia's camp is apparently so important to Putin that he is fine with photos of Kiev burning and tales of dead protesters knocking his prized Sochi Olympics off the front page of newspapers. We'll find out soon how important Ukraine is to Western Europe and the U.S. - and, perhaps, to the Ukrainian people.