I just posted something from Peter, but this is also good. (As an aside this whole American -- and it seems _only_ American and in a fringe paranoid wing of the Russian establishment -- idea that what happened in Ukraine was about the "West" vs. Russia is a little deranged. Yushchenko never said it. What was the first country Yushchnko visited? Hmmm.)
Analysis: Kiev-Moscow mending fences By Peter Lavelle Published on January 25, 2005 This article was written for UPI - United Press International
MOSCOW, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Keeping his word, Ukraine's newly inaugurated President Viktor Yushchenko made Russia the destination of his first state visit on Monday.
Yushchenko and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, both focused in what both countries have in common. They agreed on many issues, and it was not immediately apparent where the two leaders did not find common ground. However, there is no doubt Ukrainian-Russian relations are on the mend.
Yushchenko, inaugurated Sunday as third president of post-Soviet Ukraine, said he wanted Ukraine-Russia relations to be "rational, successful, (and mutually) beneficial." Putin in return stressed that his support of Yushchenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, during Ukraine's troubled presidential elections had come at the request of the former Ukrainian government. Putin wisely cast Russia's involvement in Ukraine's domestic politics as state-to-state relations instead of "meddling" political interference. Yushchenko's pragmatic words and Putin's "explanation" was what was needed to break the ice and move forward.
What is publicly known about the Yushchenko-Putin encounter stressed mutual interests, with Yushchenko affirming Russia as Ukraine's "eternal strategic partner." Putin, in turn, cited the strong natural gas partnership between the two countries and called for both Ukraine and Russia to work together to increase market share in European markets. Putin noted that Ukraine earns $1.5 billion annually from selling Russian natural gas to Europe. Putin also, in a comment that was anything but subtle, reminded his guest of Ukraine's dependence on Russia for 60 percent of its foreign trade.
http://www.untimely-thoughts.com/index.html?art=1324
===== Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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