>Moscow backed Yanukovich for the same reason it backed
>Bush. Moscow always supports the incumbent.
>
>The only real negative possibilities for Russia are
>the status of the Black Sea fleet and a delay in
>Ukraine's ratifying the Common Economic Space (and not
>even the latter is that big of a deal -- the Common
>Economic Space is mostly Russia. Russia's economy is
>bigger than Ukraine's by a factor of something like
>15).
>It was the media that spun the elections in Ukraine as
>a West vs. Russia thing. Yushchenko never said
>anything hostile about Russia. In fact Moscow was the
>first capital he visited after he became president.
>Ukraine is inextricably linked to Russia for a whole
>variety of reasons.
See the following news report "No cheap oil if you join the west: Russia." Any comments Chris?
Ulhas
The Hindu
Tuesday, Jan 04, 2005
No cheap oil if you join the west: Russia
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, JAN. 3. Russia may stop cheap energy supplies to Ukraine and other former Soviet states if they ally themselves with the West.
"We have our legitimate interests [in the former Soviet Union] and we want them to be respected as we respect the interests of those countries," said the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. He explained that those ex-Soviet states which were willing to build "friendly, allied" ties with Russia, can count on economic privileges "including energy supplies."
However, those neighbours who ally themselves with the West may find these privileges taken away from them.
"We respect the right of each country, including all our neighbours, to pick their partners and decide what organisations to join," Mr. Lavrov said in an interview to a German daily released by the Russian Foreign Ministry. "But it will be their choice, and we will of course assume that they will figure out for themselves what policy they will pursue, which partners and allies they will rely upon in developing their economy."
Calibrated remarks
Russia supplies oil and gas to members of the Commonwealth of Independent States at prices about one-third cheaper than it gets in international markets. Mr. Lavrov's carefully calibrated remarks can be read as a warning to Georgia and Ukraine that Russia will hike oil, gas and electricity prices for them if they join NATO. Georgia's President, Mikhail Saakashvili, who came to power in the course of "rose revolution" a year ago, and Ukraine's President-elect, Viktor Yushchenko, who led an "orange revolution" in Kiev last month, have both said they want to lead their countries to NATO and the European Union.
Copyright © 2005, The Hindu.