Russia has formally finalized their annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, bringing it into the Russian Federation after last weekend’s referendum. The rest of Ukraine, now led by an unelected, pro-West interim government, is charting a course toward the European Union.
Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was in Brussels today to sign the initial elements of a broad trade pact with the European Union, saying he believed the EU would provide a “strong voice” for the eventual return of Crimea to Ukrainian rule.
That’s not what the trade pact was designed to do, of course, and Ukrainian officials had been negotiating it throughout 2013 in hopes of improving their struggling economy. Elected President Yanukovych had ditched the pact in November, preferring an offer for closer ties to Russia.
While the practical merits of the EU pact are likely not to be realized by Ukraine for some time, it is remarkable how quickly, after the elected government chose to break off the talks, the interim government was able to go from taking over in violent protests to signing off on the EU deal.
“…the elected government chose to break off the talks, the interim government…”
There is no “interim” government. There was an elected government. It was overthrown. Now there is only a coup “government” which was installed by fascist thugs through murder and violence.
Please, let’s speak plainly. COUP government, not “interim” government.
Neither was there an annexation Crimea welcomed, sang and danced after democratically voting to be a part of Russia
The song and dance is what really got Obama's underwear in a bunch…..calling for more sanctions.
Given the choice to stay in Russia or Ukraine, I think the Crimeans made the smart choice.
Just as “your” government and “your” prostitute media lie to you about Ukraine, Putin, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Palestine, NSA, spying, torture, 9/11,
Signing a treaty is just one step in the the process. The treaty was first paraphed by the negotiators and has now been signed. It will have to be ratified by both sides before coming into effect. That's not a rapid process, so I can't see how that can be done until after the election on 25 May. On the EU side, ratification will be at least by the Council, i.e the elected governments of the Member States, which always have the last word in the EU. If the agreement has to go to the European Parliament, it probably won't be dealt with before 25 May, because a new parliament will be elected on 25 May also. Since Putin is in the process of negotiating a similar agreement with the EU, the entry into force of both agreements could indeed ease the situation in Crimea by providing for open borders between Crimea and Ukraine.
Now we can all watch multinationals and the IMF plunder Ukraine. Debt peonage for the people, privatizations of public services and other assets (think Monsanto appropriating the bread basket of Europe), and a Miami villa for Yatz. Then there will be civil war and Ukraine will return to the Russian fold. That's my likely scenario for the week.
Of course, US empowered neo-Nazis might decide to implement their policy preferences – banning use of the Russian language, mass deportation of Jews and other minorities (with accompanying confiscations of property, of course). Russia will intervene. Will America step up to the plate to make the world safe for neo-Nazism?
"Remarkably quick" action by "Yatz" (the new Prime Minister handpicked by our US Government, as made crystal clear by Victoria Nuland's leaked phone conversation with our US Ambassador to Ukraine, before the coup had been completed)? I would think that Antiwar.com could be a little more honest, in describing what is just another US-backed coup against another democratically elected government of another supposedly sovereign nation. By the way, our Government is neck-deep in trying to pull off yet another US-backed coup against the democratically elected government of Venezuela.
I wonder if we're going to get another amazing Faberge Egg story from the toothless English Lion in their pathetic attempt to prick the Russians ? Hahahahahahahaha…. What hurts is that taxpayer dollars go to fund this tripe.