Quote:
Originally Posted by Osem
Some will say the EU effectively handed Putin the excuse he needed to justify action in Ukraine which he'd probably been planning for ages. One thing's for sure, there are no easy, straightforward, decisions in matters such as these.
Wonder if Hugh's Cold War loins are stirring...  |
It's not just the EU though. It's also the increasingly authoritarian actions of the President. Forcing laws through Parliament, allegedly illegally (I am not an expert on Ukrainian politics so not sure how that is possible), including laws that limited freedom of speech and protests. The Ukraines perceived an increasingly Kremlin style Governance was taking hold and being aware of the last time they lived under such influence they had no desire to do so again. The closer ties with the EU may be the straw that broke the camel's back but it isn't the main cause of the crisis.
These events were always on the cards the moment Putin identified Ukraine as central to his plans for a Russian Customs Union. If the people of the Ukraine aren't keen on it then they were going to exert pressure on the Government to do it anyway, he probably didn't expect them to fight back.