Russia is on a roll, feeling truly imperial with the "little Russians" next door in Ukraine. The new president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, has acted more like Ded Moroz, handing out gift after gift to the Kremlin. First and foremost, there was the quarter century extension to the lease for the Russian Black Sea fleet at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. Ukraine's opposition accused Yanukovich of selling out the country's sovereignty for cheap Russian gas. While maybe not as explosive but more symbolic, Yanukovich assuaged Russian sensibilities again, opining that the 1930s famine was not a genocide as most Ukrainians feel and the country's parliament has ruled. And now it's Moscow's turn to add to Ukraine's humiliation. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wants the Russian gas giant Gazprom to swallow up Ukraine's gas transit system.
Fisticuffs, smoke bombs, and a legislator hiding behind an umbrella to avoid the barrage of eggs hurled his way. Such was the scene Tuesday in Kiev, where Ukraine's law givers convened to ponder whether to allow Russia's Black Sea fleet to stay moored at Ukraine's port of Sevastopol for an addition 25 years. The decision by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was a Faustian bargain. Ukraine, tipped to the economic edge by the global financial crisis, is desperate to save money any way it can. In return for the Black Sea fleet lease extension, Moscow is dropping gas prices to Ukraine about a third. However, many Ukrainians, the more patriotic in the Western parts, see the pact as nothing more than a loss of sovereignty and act of treason.
