We are reading last days about the riots in Ukraine after Yanukovich refused to sign an agreement with the European Union.
Everyone who are intersted in polirics and can read in Russian I invite to read my article about it “Бунт на Украине”.
Here is the link:
I invite also our members from Ukraine to tell your opinion about this event.
Am I correct in assuming that Moscow has more to do with the agreement not being signed than Yanukovich? What is the sentiment of the average Russian citizen? I have “no horse in the race” so this is not an opinion of mine but simply an observation.
I am not a real supporter of Putin, especially in this case.
Putin promised to give Ukraine 15 billion dollars during 2 years.
I think it’s waste of money!..
Ukraine has a lot of inner problems and contradictions, for example between East and West of Ukraine.
But the most than the half of population in Ukraine would like to be closer with the European Union - please, let’s go!..
However, I’m writing in this article that the most of ‘maidan’ are too romantic and don’t understand that in order to live like in Europe they have to go through a lot of hardships and shutdowns of a lot of factories.
Are they ready to it?
Yes, Putin would like to have Unkraine closer with Russia. I believe it’s too late to think about it. It would be a waste of time and money.
But I don’t agree that Russia makes something extraordinary to force Ukraine to be with Russia.
At least, I see every day on TV how the European and American politicians are making speeches on Maidan to support the opposition, and I don’t see in Kiev the Russian politicians that support Yanukovich.
Average Russian whom I know thinks that Putin has done a good deal with Ukraine.
15 billion dollars are not a waste of money - I think it is better than to buy USA bonds.
Putin didn`t promise to give money - he promised to buy Ukr bonds, and it really meters.
@sdom
To buy the bonds which will be obviously in 2 years weaker than now - is it not a waste of money?
Of course, Russian helped a lot with this money to Ukraine, but if the more than a half of Ukrainian against it - is it correctly?
Let them go to Europe and let them to be responsible for all their ‘wishes’!..
And if you say in Lwiw or in Ivano-Frankovsk that Russians and Ukrainian the same people - I think you will be beaten.
Honesty speaking, I regret that we are now in different countries, but nothing to do - it’s too late to discuss about it.
Interesting article. I don’t feel I fully understand what the issue is with Ukraine working with the European Union. That doesn’t prevent them from working with Russia does it? Maybe it is simply because Ukraine used to be part of Russia. I am under the impression that Russia will have close relations with Ukraine regardless of what Ukraine ultimately decides to do.
Ukraine was the part of the Russian Empire, but it wasn’t a part of Russia in the soviet time. We all were in the United Country - the Soviet Union, like the states in the USA.
It was Russian like a common language, but there were also local languages in the different republics on the SU.
Of course, we can have good relationships and now like US and Canada for example.
But Russian considers that we have some mutual trade privileges now, und Ruissia warns that these previleges wouldn’t be in action after the EU and Ukraine combine their markets because it could be unprofitable for Russian and fangerous for Russian industry due to the free border between Russia and Ukraine.
However this integration is profitable for the EU because it’s a new big market and in the future could be profitable to Ukraine, but only in the distant future because at first this integration will lead to the shutdown of a lot of the Ukrainian factories which are not ready to compete with the European industry.
It was in Baltic states, it was in Polen in 90s. AND TILL NOW 20-30% of their population immigrated to Europe and work there.
It means: the price to be like in Europe can be very high, and the Ukrainians have to make a difficult decision.
But I wonder, we have here a lot of members from Ukraine, why they don’t write their own opinions?
In my opinion the EU is an outdated concept. I can see that it might have seemed to make some sense for France and Germany in the years after WW2. But today it is, on the one hand, an affront to democracy and national sovereignty (imposing petty bureaucracy and unwanted laws on its members) yet on the other hand it is a narrow, corrupt, wasteful, inward-looking organisation, which IMO has become crassly inappropriate in the modern global economy.
In my country, the UK, the polls show that there is a clear majority of the electorate who want to renegotiate our EU-membership. Some of us (myself included) would be entirely happy to come right out of there.
As regards these protestors in the Ukraine - I believe that they are being greedy and short-sighted: they figure that EU membership would make it easy for them to migrate westwards and start a new life. Well, that might be good for them individually, but it’s hardly likely to be good for their country in the longer term.
Yes, Jay,
you are obviously right.
I didn’t say it before because the Ukrainians may be offended, but I also think unfortunately that the most part of the ‘maidan-protestors’ would like to have closer connections with the EU in order to leave easier Ukraine and to search their happiness somewhere in West Europe.
I mean ‘unfortunately’ because my ancestors were from West Ukraine and I would like to see this sunny country rich and happy.
I listen to a lot of music in Russian that features on a Ukrainian channel, almost everything on there is in Russian lang, it’s on youtube (channel’s called ELLO) I noticed that in quite a few songs London was mentioned…as a place to live and be, I thought this was odd because why would they be focusing on London so much? But I realise now it’s probably related to the desire to be in the EU, with London being a particular hotspot.
Григорий Лепс - Лондон
СЕНС - Лондон
^^A couple of songs that came to mind
As for the topic, I think it’d be good if Ukraine joined the EU, but right now is really the worst time ever for them to join, the EU is in a pretty bad condition all around, so it’s better they stay put until things get better here.