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.
Viktor Yanukovich travels to Moscow today on his first official visit to Russia as the president of Ukraine. The Kremlin has to be pleased with the election of Yanukovych who has already ruled out NATO membership for his country, talked about letting Russian warships stay docked at a Ukrainian Black Sea port, and suggested the Russians could buy into the country's rusting pipeline network. But the visit may prove relations even under Yanukovych may not be all backslapping and smiles.
A former member of the Communist party, a two-time felon, and a mechanic by trade. That is the short bio of Ukraine's new president Viktor Yanukovych. On Sunday, the 59-year-old got his revenge for his 2004 ignominy, when his election to the same post was snatched away by the "Orange Revolution." This time not only did Yanukovych win, but he defeated one of the main heroines of that 'revolution', Yulia Tymoshenko. For Moscow, the result is sweet as well. The Black Sea Fleet, Ukraine's energy pipelines are now on the block prepped for Moscow's bidding. For many, the biggest disappointment five years after the Revolution has been choosing between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko, two overly familiar figures both tainted by scandal. Anyway, out with Orange in with Blue.
