Putin Options Dwindle in Ukraine as EU Takes Lead in Peace
By Henry Meyer Feb 21, 2014 12:48 PM ET
As Europe takes the lead in trying to end the bloodshed in the Ukrainian capital, Vladimir Putin is running out of options to shape events in a country that he sees as firmly within Russia’s sphere of influence.
Putin a few weeks ago seemed to have the upper hand after offering a $15 billion lifeline and a cut-price gas deal to shore up the country’s economy. Yet his Ukrainian ally Viktor Yanukovych has become ever-more isolated as pro-European activists hold onto Kiev’s main square after deadly clashes killing dozens, disaffected regions split off, ruling-party lawmakers defect and the European Union wields the threat of sanctions.
A European-brokered plan for early elections by December -- signed today in Kiev by Yanukovych and the opposition -- is a ploy to get Ukraine to make “the EU choice,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.
Putin, who once described the breakup of the Soviet Union as the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, needs to decide how far he’s prepared to go. Current and former Kremlin advisers say his choices in case Yanukovych is forced out of office range from encouraging Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions to secede to a limited military intervention -- a strategy fraught with risks.
‘Full of Rage’
“Putin must be full of rage,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin adviser who heads the Effective Policy Foundation in Moscow. “He’s urging Yanukovych to re-establish control and just doesn’t understand what is going on, why there isn’t any control.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-21/putin-options-dwindle-in-ukraine-as-eu-takes-lead-in-peace-talks.html
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