Putin

I whole heartedly agree with Iryna Aniushkevick’s blog http://governmentandpoliticsgovt2305.blogspot.com/ regarding Vladimir Putin and his hostile takeover of Crimea.  But, what leverage does the United States and the United Nations (“UN”) have at this point?  Iryna states that Putin will not be content with the warlike takeover of Crimea and that Putin will most likely not stop at Crimea’s takeover.  His recent actions against Ukraine have solidified that he will not stop until Ukraine has renounced its land to Russia.

President Putin’s most recent action is to cut off gas to Ukraine if their 40 billion dollar bill is not paid to Russia.  This would not be the first time Putin cut off gas to Ukraine.  The problem is that major pipelines also are fed into other parts of Europe.  Now, there are alternate lines and IF the time comes, Putin will probably use these routes under his conditions remember.

I also agree with Iryna where she said “Russian’s aggressive actions toward Ukraine are linked to a desire to prevent Ukraine’s integration with the European Union.”  To elaborate, on this, in my opinion, Vladimir Putin has put millions into Ukraine’s economy and does not want to continue this anymore.  He feels the European Union (“EU”) should bail out Ukraine and if they don’t Putin has threatened to cut gas from Europe if something is not done about Ukraine’s debt to Russia.  The International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) will soon propose and pass an aid fund for Ukraine for the next two years; however this aid may not be enough to bail Ukraine out of its financial debt to Russia. 

Again, I am in agreement with Iryna when she stated that “It is every nation’s right to decide its own future, although only by political means rather than military force and aggression.”  However, in Ukraine’s case I don’t think this will be possible.  Here is a county that has in the past faltered financially and has relied heavily on Russia for economic stability, where the United States has said they will not go to war over this invasion, and where even financial aid from the IMF would not totally pay off Russia’s debt.  Ukraine is a defenseless, tender state who is constantly exposed to Russia and Putin’s rule.  I wish there was an amicable resolution to this travesty.